Service Connected, Soul Denied

They checked the boxes, signed the line Said your damage qualifies Measured pain in neat columns Reduced the war to problems Every scar needs evidence Every scream needs relevance Every memory dissected Every trauma redirected Quantify, define, align Service connected Soul denied Still breathing But dead inside Service connected Verified But nothing here Feels alive Insufficient evidence Claim denied Please resubmit Every form another fracture Every word becomes a factor Every truth is rearranged Until it fits inside the frame You want proof, I’ll give you proof I’ll relive it all for you Every moment, every scream Turn my trauma into data streams Sign here Stay still Prove your pain Again Sign here Stay still Prove your pain Again Where do I go When the war follows me home Who do I become When I’m left here alone I gave you everything I had Every good and every bad You took the body, trained the mind But left the soul behind Service connected Soul denied Still breathing But dead inside I made it home But something died And no one sees What’s left behind You trained me for war But not for peace I am the cost you won’t admit The consequence you won’t submit A living ghost, a fractured man A failure of your perfect plan You sent me there to break and bend But never taught me how to end The war you built inside my chest Now I can never lay to rest I am the proof of what you did I am the truth you won’t admit Service connected Soul denied Service connected Soul denied Please hold Please hold Please hold Round and round it never ends Paper trails and broken men Every system built to stall Every answer leads to walls Service connected Soul denied You trained me for war But left me here to rot No exit No end No peace No friend Service connected Soul denied Denied Denied Denied I made it home Why does it feel like I died out there Denied