Open Poetry #46 |
Fishing With Grenades (a repost for the coming day) |
icebox Member Elite
since 2003-05-03
Posts 4383in the shadows |
We started out as boys of prey believing what we'd learned, some not even twenty mostly poor with nothing earned, some were born to plenty came from worlds I never knew; obscenities became the common glue that held our words together as we learned to stay alive. We hated everything about the place, boots, food, mud, crud that stuck eyelids together, weather, newsies, amateurish boorish fools buffoons with cameras, tape recorder spools, whiskey up the ass, white skin round eyed nurses only sleeping with the brass. I had it easy making ends meet on common ground in the jungle with the bloods, they hated all the snowflakes and I hated everyone, we started young and frightened using ordnance like toys; some were bagged up early flying home to flowers, all the lucky ones were tagged. The rest of us stopped being boys a tour or two ago tucked our fears into our dreams and didn't really sleep. Nightmares came like boom-boom girls loud with lots of flash. I grew to be something else between human and a man lost the fear of dying on a blood trail in the bush later I replaced it with a fear of going home; even that got washed away until where I was was all I'd ever known. We learned it don't mean nothin' to get by the best you can, watch the ghosts come at you and sometimes let them pass, watch the tracer colors red could be OK but green means someone's zeroed on your ass. I don't make friends; they always die and I hate them when they do. Pass the shotgun here because we're back alive again; play the music loud and clear I might even hear it above the ringing in my ears. Anybody hungry? Put a good edge on your blades. Wake up Doc and build a fire I feel like fishing with grenades. ©2003, 2009, 2010 by icebox |
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© Copyright 2010 icebox - All Rights Reserved | |||
jwesley Member Rara Avis
since 2000-04-30
Posts 7563Spring, Texas |
Loved it then...love it now, my friend. j. |
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Andrew Scott Member Elite
since 1999-06-24
Posts 2558Redlands,CA,USA |
Out of respect, I don't dare comment... but to say powerful. Sincerely, I thank you for your service. I wish you peace. |
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latearrival Member Ascendant
since 2003-03-21
Posts 5499Florida |
You spoke the truth as only you can. The older I get the more I understand. Thank you for this. The man I married went in at 17 and was in the battle of Leyte a month before he tured 18. We married when he was just 21. He never spoke about it. He did not want to remember. But I learned though meeting others who served on the U.S Houston a few years ago and can not understand how he made it and kept it all in all his life. Again I thank you for all you went through and are able to write about. latearrival//jo |
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Bastet Member
since 2010-05-07
Posts 246 |
Yes, I think very hard experiences make people grow up very quickly. I can't imagine what you went through, but I feel the power of emotion behind your words. A truly dramatic story poem. |
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Marchmadness Member Rara Avis
since 2007-09-16
Posts 9271So. El Monte, California |
Powerful write, Sometimes it's hard to hear it like it is and harder to live it. Ida |
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Margherita Member Seraphic
since 2003-02-08
Posts 22236Eternity |
Such a tough world that I visualize and feel through your masterful words, dear Charly. Love, Margherita |
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Earl Brinkman Senior Member
since 2010-03-03
Posts 1183Osaka, Japan |
A personal statement that tells the truth of a tragic situation. Your language is concise and conveys the mood of the time. |
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