SUCK IT UP!
‍By Wendy L. Hayes

‍

Step off the bus,
Sergeants yell and cuss;
Life seems precarious—
SUCK IT UP!

Assigned to a unit,
Nothing but a misfit
Forced to submit—
SUCK IT UP!

Slicing pain
Must remain;
Don’t dare complain—
SUCK IT UP!

Horror unfolds,
Truth folds.
Find your strongholds—
SUCK IT UP!

Anxiety on the rise
As they terrorize;
Remember their lies—
SUCK IT UP!

Stuff it in abox
Secured with locks;
The truth still mocks—
SUCK IT UP!

Drinking to drown,
Memories surround,
You shutdown—
SUCK IT UP!

Fighting withall your might,
Alone in your plight.
Will it be alright?
SUCK IT UP!

Did they betray?
22 a day?
You start to sway.
SUCK IT UP?

Through all your denial
And fear so primal,
Let this be your final—
SUCK IT UP!

‍

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Wendy Hayes is an Air Force Veteran, events coordinator & fundraiser for Kaleidoscope K9s, lifetime member of Disabled American Veterans and Veterans of Foreign Wars, ambassador for SAW (Save A Warrior Program, which offers a 3-day intensive treatment program for CPTS, free for any veteran), and owner of a Siberian Husky service dog named Maverick. She is also fostering Milo, a senior Siberian Husky with special needs.