Day Seventy-two

Today's words:

Parade

Pension

Lead

Pyramid

Courage

Umbrella

The VFW parade

Was sad; everyone marching had been on a pension

Since the last century. In the lead

Was a general, followed by a group in a pyramid

Formation. These men had courage

However, and I was proud to watch them, without my umbrella

Even though it was raining. I'd left my umbrella

At home as I ran out to watch the parade

Go by. It takes more than just courage

To get by on a pension

These days. Building a pyramid

Can seem easier, or turning lead

Into gold. Even though the sky was the color of lead

I left my umbrella

Behind and now it was raining. The men formed a human pyramid

As the parade

Drew to a close. Even on a pension

They remained agile and full of courage.

I screwed up my courage

And asked the general in the lead

How he got by on his pension.

"How do you get by without an umbrella

In the rain?" he responded, looking at the other men in the parade.

"You just do. It's like building a pyramid,

"One stone at a time. But just as a pyramid

"Is a tomb, so it takes a lot of courage

"To come out here on parade."

My heart sank like lead.

Here I was, worrying about an umbrella,

When I wasn't trying to survive on a measly pension.

After these men's service no pension

Would ever be adequate compensation. It's like a pyramid

Scheme. These men had been an umbrella,

Shielding us. Because of their courage

We could lead

Our happy, insouciant lives and admire them on parade.

A pension is no recompense for the courage

It takes to support the pyramid of our society, as we lead

Lives under the umbrella of soldiers on parade.