Randy E. Richmond

JUST AN OLD BARREL

Some see a barrel in the woods and think nothing much at all
No notice of it taken unless it caused a trip and fall
Others might wonder how it got there and how it filled with mud
Perhaps it just settled here when carried far by flood

Still others would grow angry and shake their righteous heads
Till springtime hid the unsightly hulk with its greens and browns and reds
Most are just untouched or pay little notice to such abandoned trash
But to some it’s a horrible reminder of a long persistent rash

Of cancers that take their time to kill, of birth defects of kids
Of a cough that’s never gone away, of brothers-in-arms who did
Yes it’s just a barrel, and the center stripe is much too wide
Yet when I saw its faded orange color, I remembered…and I cried…

To all of my brothers who remain, I just want you to know
I hope it takes a hundred years, but that I’m the next to go

Randy E. Richmond: Just an Old Barrel