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Vera Kilgore Heilig: Her Poetry Lives (2017) H. Morris Williams, Marie Law Haire

On Pearl Harbor.

Draft boards called out the doughboys’
Sons by lottery.

We planted Victory Gardens and bought bombs.

The children bought defence stamps, 10 cents each
At school.

Women donned coveralls to rivet planes and
Ships

And passed the ammunition while we
Praised the Lord

And sang God Bless America

Sure that He would, for He was on our side.
We flattened our tin cans, reused our paper

Bags
and counted out our ration stamps

Proud to be doing our bit.

(We swept the hoarders, the black market sugar and the bootleg gas
under

the rug)
And we didn’t sit under the apple tree—

Though apples, as always, tempted some—

Till Johnny came marching home — or didn’t come,
Or limped or rolled himself on wheels

Counting his loss the world’s gain
Convinced there would be love and laughter

And peace ever after
For now the world was free.

Had he not fought the war to end all wars?

End war once and for all?

The doughboys’ daughters saw their sons
Called to a war that had no slogan and no song,

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