It's Not Just a Hat

by Earl Corp

~ Memorial Day USA ~ Contest Winner

While pumping gas and saw a guy wearing an Army veteran hat,

I was wearing the same hat,

I asked him when and where he served,

He said he’d never been in the service,

Then he said something I’ll never forget,

“It’s just a hat.”

I should have told him of the sacrifices made,

The lives interrupted, or ended abruptly,

From the green at Lexington and Concord,

To the mountains of Afghanistan and the Desert of Iraq,

He should know every veteran wrote a blank check payable to the United States,

For an amount up to and including their life,

And how the United States has cashed 1,303,684 of those
checks since 1776.

Being a veteran meant we were willing to leave home,

Defend our nation against all enemies foreign and domestic,

That means something to me and I’m sure it does to the other 19 million living veterans,

It’s not just a hat,

It symbolizes our love and devotion to the country,

Wearing a veteran hat is how we show our patriotism,

It honors those we served with and those that fell,

It symbolizes honor, duty and sacrifice by us and our comrades,

A lot of people have forgotten that,

To us it’s not just a hat.

Earl Corp May 26,2021

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Writing Prompt
Compose a FREE VERSE poem on the topic ~ Memorial Day USA
Read ALL rules--some may show only on contest page
1. Author's name displayed
2. Dedication and title may be included with text of poem. They do NOT count towards number of lines allowed. [optional to author]
3. Author may sign and date poem at bottom--does NOT count towards number of lines allowed--up to 3 lines may be added.
4. LENGTH--maximum of 32 lines ~ no haibun, 575 suite, haiku suite, acrostic
IN AUTHOR NOTES, WRITE NUMBER OF TOTAL LINES (see rules 2 & 3)
5. ONE picture above text of poem
6. ONE color font/ONE color background
7. NO animations or words in picture (memes)
8. Author notes allowed
9. TOPIC (subject) poem MUST be about Memorial Day in the USA [Do NOT write about a FS member who has died]
10. Category--general not listed--do NOT choose God/Jesus as subject
11. Do NOT have any end rhyme pattern although rhymes may be used elsewhere
12. No warnings of any kind will be accepted--although references to war may be used without adding warning note
13. A minimum of 2 entries must be posted before contest goes to booth

~ Memorial Day USA ~
Contest Winner

Recognized

#18
May
2021

I dedicate this to all those eligible to weat a veteran's hat, and to those who didn't get home for the opportunity.
*23 lines
* This is the very first free verse poem I have ever written

Pays one point and 2 member cents.

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It's not about us, it's about them

It's Not Just a Hat

by Earl Corp

~ Memorial Day USA ~ Contest Winner

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