Frogtown and the Dog

By Joshua Walker

Daddy picked the leash over the rifle—
said, “Give me the dog post, I like dogs.”
They handed him Duke, black as midnight,
who barked like God and understood fog.

Together they walked the barbed wire hush,
a scared young man with something to trust.
Far from the front, where the boys were dying,
but close enough to taste red dust.

One day the General showed up in full brass.
Daddy made Duke sit and shake his hand.
The old man smiled. “That’s a damn good dog.”
And Daddy stood taller in that sand.

When it was time to go, they kept the leash.
Rules, they said. Nothing he could do.
He still talks like Duke might come home—
the best friend a nobody ever knew.

****

Joshua Walker is a poet who family has a multi-generational legacy of military service. His father, Jack, served as a Sergeant in Vietnam; his brother Michael was a Lance Corporal in the Marines; and his brother Kenny, a career Marine, later enlisted in the Army post-9/11, serving in Iraq, as well as  numerous  uncles and cousins that served. Through poetry, Joshua explores the deep personal and emotional impact of sacrifice and  resilience across generations.