Catch-22 Blues

On this Veteran's Day, here's an ode to my favorite fictional veteran

For Yossarian

I was never one for easy ways
Couldn’t fit in line  
Went rogue with a flight suit on  
Dancing close to the mines  
I dodged their orders with a grin, slipped right through their grasp  
They tried to pin my wings, but I broke free at last  

They’re spinning up those bomber rounds, I’m sleeping off the fumes  
Gambled life on a raw roulette, high stakes and endless gloom  
Eight missions down with a midnight scowl, bullets whistling blues  
One foot in the madness, with that Air Corps service bruise  

Well, they pinned me as a coward once  
They didn’t understand  
Survival’s not surrender when you’re in the devil’s hand  
And when you’re knee-deep in the fire, sane men get the hint  
They think I’m just a joke—but I don’t flinch or wince  

They’re lighting up those skies again, and I’m grounded in a haze  
Burned my fears on a cold roulette that flares in every blaze  
Ten missions down with a killer frown, chaos in my veins  
I’m one foot from deserting, but they’re clamped onto my chains  

You could call me Captain Out of Luck  
I’ll know what you mean  
Shackled to a Catch and caught in battles they can’t clean  
Freedom’s just a twist away but bound inside their lies  
I laugh just to stay alive — I see right through their eyes  

They’re counting up those numbers now, and I’m fading in the gray  
Spent my dreams on a silent bet that’s forced to play their game  
Twelve flights out with a hopeless route, thunder in my brain  
It’s one last round with chaos and that Catch-22 pain