Poem by RELEE: The GI Bill

The GI Bill

I try to imagine myself
without the GI Bill.
I'd still be
at Goodyear Aircraft
in Akron, Ohio,
walking around and
around the plant,
saying Hi, Hello,
smiling, collecting
my small paycheck
every week or so.
Of course, if it hadn't
been for that damned
Second World War,
I wouldn't have been
drafted. I would never
have gone to college.
I wouldn't have a PhD.
I would never have taught.
Of course if there
hadn't been a war,
I wouldn't have been
working at Goodyear
Aircraft to begin with.
There wouldn't have been
a Goodyear Aircraft
to begin with.
I wasn't much
of a soldier anyway
you look at it.
But being one
sure made things
comfortable.
And here I am,
a man of peace,
I like to think,
pulling guard duty,
at war with myself
over war.

© Richard Lee