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This is a poem I wrote for my father, who served bravely in Vietnam, but came home a changed man. Still a good man, but forever changed. The illustration was created by feeding a few verses into MidJourney AI. I hope to post a few more poems here, along with some more artwork created in the same method.
No Place Like Home
Oh dear daddy,
you never could find your way home.
And now I see your ghost
along the highways I roam.
All the secrets a man holds in his soul,
he leaves to his daughters and sons.
The mysteries of desire and pain
are all I’ve got left to hold.
There’s no place like home,
or so they say.
I can’t be sure,
but maybe one day
I’ll know you rest in peace
But still, the whiskey bottle is broken.
And the wars you fought won’t cease.
A boy puts on a uniform
and wants to become a man.
I see the pictures,
but I’ll never understand
where you’ve been.
New York, Puerto Rico and Paris Island.
Saigon, napalm and land mines in the red, red sand.
They sent you home,
But the ghosts never left you alone.
They gave you all the pills you wanted,
but nothing you need.
They make you numb,
But still we bleed.
In memory we build a bridge across
Space and time.
We reach into the mist,
trying to find,
Something to believe
On Earth.
A way to retrieve
the faith we had at birth.
There’s no place like home,
that’s what they say.
You left momma and me to find our way.
Without you.
Somewhere in dark,
where young boys go astray.
No, nothing lasts forever –
not pleasure, not pain.
My love is fate more than choice.
And when I forget how to be brave,
I only need to follow your voice.
If I could find a way,
I would bring you home again.
Home, sweet home.
Dear daddy,
Until the end.
– Adam J. Rodriguez
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