Detroit to D.C., night train, Capitol, parts East
lone young man takes a seat
and by the rhythm of the rails
reading all his mother's mail
from a city boy in a jungle town
postmarked Saigon
he'll go live his mother's dream
join the slowest parade he'll ever see
her weight of sorrows carried long and carried far
"take these, Tommy, to The Wall"
metro line to the mall site with a tour of Japanese
he's wandering and lost until
a vet in worn fatigues
takes him down to where they belong
near a soldier, an ex-Marine
with a tattooed dagger and eagle trembling
he bites his lip beside a widow breaking down
she takes her Purple Heart, makes a fist, strikes The Wall
