holding them

'look the leaves are dead'

why would that little snippet of lyrics move me?
what does it even move inside of me?
is it the way he sings it?
that's got to have a lot to do with it.
the music behind it, how he sings it, and those
words.

i'm not even sure what it hits every time i hear it.
and i hear it a lot as i keep playing the song over
and over.

and i sing it and i feel it inside of me, and i can't quite
get what it's touching.

it's touching something about life.
and how it doesn't work out how we want it to.
and that's the way it is a lotta the times.

and i think of that on this veteran's day.

and i think of vets and what they've been thru...
and how the world keeps spinning in its awfulness
and its beauty. its hell and its heaven and its everything in between.

and i think how odd it is that what i have to offer is
thoughts on some lyrics that keep haunting me.

but it's not the little snippet of lyrics.
it's that feeling deep deep inside that just kinda grabs
at me but won't let me really look it in the eyes.

it's a feeling of sorrow and acceptance.
and knowing that this is how life is.

on this veteran's day, i offer my heart which is full of that feeling
right now. and i honor the vets who are dealing with the
hauntings of war. and the vets who have passed and hopefully
have found peace. my heart is holding them today.