They didn’t fight for this

Uniforms still pressed and hanging in closets

Displayed proudly in the mantle in shadow boxes 

Climate controlled symbols of unity

We did it, we won

But we didn’t win 

We muffled, we stifled, we shoved

Back into foxholes and trenches

With lead and gas

But in our victory cries we forgot

That in those foxholes lay schemes

Plots to emerge, teeth sharpened 

Seething in their own shadows

Mired in toxic fumes and contempt

Waiting for the box to be opened again

But this box is leaking

Schematics to disassemble, slowly

Those secure places where we store our heroes

And it’s too late now to stop the rot eating away at the pressed slacks, the tarnish creeping in on the medals of honor 

The only thing left now is to cut away the moldy parts

And hope there is enough fabric left

To stitch together a quilt for the coming winter