We used to laugh at him,

Staff Sergeant

Platoon Sergeant

The old crooked man with a lisp

who kept one eye open as he slept,

We all thought he was just crazy.

He said to us,

“Where do you think you’re goin’,

Hawaii?  No, you’re goin’ into harm’s

way.”

He spoke very little about the invasion in 2003—

we watched as his eyes had changed,

They were not angry anymore

They were hurt

We never laughed after that

We listened and he

stopped yelling

We learned quickly

that if you are being taught how to fire

a weapon, how to clean a weapon,

how to carry a weapon in formation;

it is best to listen—

War is only the next place you may be

and shooting stars are not the only counts of death.

∞

From the Spring 2014 issue of Inquiring Mind (Vol. 30, No. 2)

© 2014 Jon Turner