The Wall

Cigarettes and a bottle of beer

This poem that I wrote for you

This black stone and these hard tears

Are all I got left, now, of you

I remember you in the Marine uniform laughin'

Laughin' at you ship-out party

I read Robert McNamara, says he's sorry

Your high boots and striped T-shirt

Ah, Billy, you looked so bad

And you and your rock and roll band

You were the best thing this shit town ever had

Now the men who put you here eat with their families

In rich dining halls

And apology and forgiveness

Got no place here at all, at the wall

And I'm sorry I missed you last year

Couldn't find no one to drive me

If your eyes could cut through that black stone

Tell me, would they recognize me?

For the living time, it must be served, the day goes on

Cigarettes and a bottle of beer

Skin on black stone

On the ground dog tags and wreathes of flowers

With ribbons as red as the blood

Red as the blood you spilled in the Central Highlands mud

Limousines rush down Pennsylvania Avenue

Rustlin' the leaves as they fall

And apology and forgiveness

Got no place here at all, here at the wall