I buy pencils
made in Vietnam
naked burning child
Category: War
1295
tall emerald grass
ripples without wind
men stalking men
907
blue angels above
some cities have airshows
every day
820
fireflowers
splash the sky
enchantments of war
527
last day of boot camp
surprised to see fresh recruits
run by in a herd
六十六
494
black banners, black holes
no light nor reason escapes
seasons of slaughter
六十六
454
bodies bagged, blood mopped
everyone is buying guns
war breeds in our hearts
六十六 (rokuju roku)
11/13/15
Butcher, breaker
Decapitator
Enjoy the virgins
Of heaven
May they be all
The mangled corpses
You made on earth.
410
ghosts in river smoke
drifting dogwood and bird calls
scraps of battle flags
330
over long decades
glass slivers dropped from her skin
tears of August 6
329/ tanka
in Hiroshima
on a tram at ground zero
overhead wires
short out– a ferocity
of light floods the crowded car
298
800 pages
of the Second World War– please
don’t spoil the ending
Memorial Day, 2015
“People sleep peaceably in their beds at night
only because rough men stand ready to do violence
on their behalf.” – George Orwell
our world does not turn
marines know,
unless they die to make it so
they don’t fight for you or me
nor for policy nor for liberty
it’s for them hung in razor wire
it’s who’s guarding their backs
it’s jarheads dying in friendly fire
it’s teens going home in sacks
the granite of the next long wall
they’re the core of our nation’s soul
5/19/15 combat
six combat zone tours
without a scratch– a granny
got him outside Longs
5/18/15 marine
marine corps boot camp
a night of pealing thunder
some hide under sheets
Loss 5/5/15 rewrite
Elderly men mourn
A long ago war not won
Soon peaches will bloom
War 4/29/15
blood was as water
lives so many storm blown leaves
my soldier’s story
Stalingrad
Bones and burnt iron
Oceans of tall sunflowers
Flotsam of a Reich
Close Relations
The universe is a lot like
An uncle or aunt bringing
Gifts and mussing up your hair
Marveling at your growth
Till you get lazy and ignore
Presents while in deep envy
Of what other kids got.
Then says the Big U,
As the goodies vanish,
“If you don’t value me
Why should I value you?”
Addendum to a War
Huck Finn scouted for Sheridan,
Tom Sawyer piloted steamboats
For the South. Neither survived,
Neither is marked by a stone.
They’ll not appear in words again.
Only river smoke and bird song
Recalls what they did as men.
Cat Nap Revue 