Joseph Stone

Joseph Stone © Tony Fallon 112217

Joseph Stone lived all alone

Never bothered nobody

Whittled goods out of woods

And they were not shoddy

Loved race horses and race courses

In Ohio and Kentucky

Wanted to be a jockey was too stocky

He felt so unlucky
Fought for Sam in Vietnam

And he almost drowned

Bullet hole outside Seoul

Left his mind unsound

Went off an zero came home a hero

Head of the big parade

But no work not even as a clerk

Joseph felt betrayed

No more to pawn he became withdrawn

Happy with his Mountain Dew

Sitting on a log talking to his dog

Drinking, drinking déjà vu

Alone he sang in mountain twang

Of women he’d have married

Dreaming scheming often screaming

From shrapnel that he carried

Victims of war are often poor

No chance to build a nest egg

A monthly check for a human wreck

Alone with his wooden leg

Left all alone in his twilight zone

A veteran treated rotten

A lonely grave for a man so brave

Joseph must not be forgotten