Some take the bloody bit And run themselves to death With frothy shanks, flying spit And glassy, bulging eyes
While others refuse the bloody pit And turn away the fiery breath With flexed shoulders, pivoting heel And wildly open sighs
Some whip themselves to the fray As steeds of war like beasts they bray To rip and tear the daylight from the day Until no longer invites a way To wheel and turn and steal away
While others leave behind the misty gray As saints of peace the manly hand they stay To heal the wounded damage of their play Until they recover the golden way To heal and feel the sunlit day
Some drop themselves on the killing floor They never reach the farther shore Steeped and strangled in blood and gore They cannot learn to forswear war To forswear war forevermore
While others climb up the opposite shore They reach the place they've so longed for Washed and cleansed of the bloody whore They've learned to simply forswear war To forswear war forevermore
Yes, some refuse the bloody pit And turn away their fiery breath With flexed shoulders, pivoting heel And widely opened eyes
But others take the bloody bit And run themselves to death With frothy shanks, flying spit And brassy, bulging cries
Jim Bush is a 61 year old, Vietnam-era veteran, currently living in Katy,Texas. He was raised in a military family. His father received the Silver Star for directing troops while under air attack at Clark Field in the Phillipines, survived the Bataan Death March, and spent three and a half years in a Japanese POW camp. He also received the Purple Heart for wounds received while a POW. Jim served as an army photographer in Okinawa and Korea. In 1987 he traveled to the war zones of Nicaragua with a veteran's group dedicated to stopping the Contra War.
