Jim Bean II

The Story of the Flags

Flags were raised just half the way.

The bands played soldiers songs to show our pride.

For all who died to keep their country STRONG…

Then, 25 years of history would pass and the children 

who grew up during World War I went off 

to fight in World War II. All over the earth. And again…

Flags were raised just half the way.

Bombs fell like thunder storms.

We passed the graves,

Saw children pray,

That daddy wasn’t one.

Five years of history passes, and conflict called Korea occurs. But again…Flags

Were raised just half way.

This time new jets were sent to kill the Reds,

And show the rest that they were somehow safe.

The next conflict would be the longest yet…

And some would claim we passed the flag,

And closed the door when Vietnam grew strong.

The ones who fought and made it back,

Had lost their only home.

After 19 years of history, Saddam Hussein sent an army of pain to peaceful place

Called Kuwait.

Minds of fear…Many tears…

Cross the sea to set them free!

Battleships, folly dresses.

Yellow ribbons, some regrets,

Letters stained from far away.

Desert Storm, have you gone away?

Conclusion: keeping in mind the less than 300 years of peace throughout the 6,000

Years, I ponder the next possible war, and start with a question.

Flags were raised just half the way?

The biggest bombs now sit in place.

Who knows the day when they will say,

Was there a flag that won?

Copyright by James Bean II

Biography

Jim Bean is a poet from Boston, a lover of the Red Sox, Fenway Park, and the road. I met Jim by the side of a New Mexican road. He was sitting with a sign that said "Poetry for Sale." I pulled over immediately. Jim and I talked for a time about poetry, Boston, the Red Sox and War. He is a Vietnam veteran, one of the those who have spent years wandering and making his way. He sold poems for a dollar by the sheet of paper. I bought this one, and asked if he would let me publish it. It was a handshake deal. - Barbara Flaherty