'Two Veterans' by Donal Mahoney

Two Veterans 
 
Both of them
had been to Korea.
Both of them
had made it back.
 
One found a job
and was now retired.
The other one never had
a job that lasted.
 
One of them had 
a very nice home. 
The other one 
cut his grass.
 
But this year 
somebody stole
the old mower’s
clunker machine
 
and he couldn’t 
afford a new one.
So the customer
bought him a new one
 
over loud objections
from the mower.
The customer said
they'd call it reparations.
 
 
Donal Mahoney