I have a little lead

German medal

That my grandfather brought back

As a war souvenir

Engraved with a Swastika

I don’t know why I kept it

Everyone wanted me to toss it

They said it had

A Swastika on it

And that

Just wouldn’t do

But, I don’t know

I just suppose

I kept it because

The boy who got it

Must have been so proud of it

Hanging it high on his uniform

Always fingering it

Bragging to his girlfriend

About the honor he had won

She must have listened

Captivated

By his tale of bravery and daring

Then one day

The boy died

Upon cold fields of

Mud and blood

And my grandfather took his honor away from him

Just a war souvenir

Like how people

Bring back plastic flamingos from Florida

I suppose I took it

Not because I support the Nazi party

But, I took it

Because that German boy

With a honorable medal

The one with the girlfriend

Died in cold fields of blood and mud

Like so many American men

So

Here’s to that dead boy

Just know that your medal is safe

When I look at it

I think of you

The breathing smiling fun- loving person

And how you lived once too