4-30-09 I Thought I’d Seen It All
Scottie Allman© 2009

I wanted adventure and to see the world
So at 17 I joined the Corps
Six months later I found myself on a foreign shore
A tropical paradise called Okinawa.
Then on to Korea, near the frozen north
At 17 I didn’t think I’d be scared
But what do you feel knowing that Great Leader
Could drop a mortar right here?
I thought I’d seen and felt it all.

Then in the jungle of the Canal Zone
With its oppressive humidity and searing heat,
Rock apes, poisonous frogs, and Banana Spiders on the trails
Pushing through mountain jungles,
One foot in front of the other to the next check point,
Wondering if the Ding-Bats were somewhere behind our backs.
Single rounds here and there,
While looking for El Jefe
Who did not care whose life he took
And stuffed into a sack
All while waiting to go back home
I thought I’d seen and felt it all

Learning to jump from a plane
Feeling the power and rumble of the mighty Hercules
As it roared through the air
Feeling the terror as I took that first step
Turn to joy at the rippling sight of the silky nylon open wide
I thought I’d seen and felt it all

One day a badge was placed upon my chest
It came with chaos and mayhem most everyday
The carnage of wreck of a small car and a cement truck,
Stuffed animals mixed with tiny pieces of human flesh
Strewn down a stretch of highway 100 yards long.
Hookers and junkies all day long
Steve Bradshaw drunk on Listerine
I thought I’d seen and felt it all

But as I watch my 13 year old son
I remember back to when he was born.
Watching him come into this world
Holding him as he took his first breath and screamed
Seeing him calming from my touch
That he had known from within the womb
That one memory lets me know
I’ve not seen and felt enough.