ECONOMY
She wears her disgust
on the end of a stick,
guttering and sputtering
as she imagined him
northwest of Faluja
trapped in a bent Humvee
metal sparks shouting
like now, without the laughter,
fragmenting this family
into shards of grandchildren
giddy with the day, the recoil,
the night, light, sound, sparkle.
The thunk of the shot
shocks her heart-rate
pounding up the hill
blank stare at the brink
the rising expectation
the premonition
the rearing certainty
the sonic crack and glee
black stars into blank
butterflies, flowering,
showering, twinkling,
gone. She can see
Bombs bursting in air (Ft Henry)
Bombs bursting on shore (Ft Sumter)
Bombs bursting on water (Midway, Leyte)
Bombs bursting in trees (Bastogne, Bull Run)
Bombs bursting on beaches (Anzio, Iwo)
Bombs bursting in winter (Pusan, Inchon)
Bombs bursting on rivers, in fields, in buildings
Bombs bursting on an unmarked road
northwest of Faluja, while other
mothers yet wave, yet wave,
still there, still there, grandchildren.
Someone is free
Someone is free
Someone is free
Someone is free
.
She wears her disgust
on the end of a stick,
guttering and sputtering
as she imagined him
northwest of Faluja
trapped in a bent Humvee
metal sparks shouting
like now, without the laughter,
fragmenting this family
into shards of grandchildren
giddy with the day, the recoil,
the night, light, sound, sparkle.
The thunk of the shot
shocks her heart-rate
pounding up the hill
blank stare at the brink
the rising expectation
the premonition
the rearing certainty
the sonic crack and glee
black stars into blank
butterflies, flowering,
showering, twinkling,
gone. She can see
Bombs bursting in air (Ft Henry)
Bombs bursting on shore (Ft Sumter)
Bombs bursting on water (Midway, Leyte)
Bombs bursting in trees (Bastogne, Bull Run)
Bombs bursting on beaches (Anzio, Iwo)
Bombs bursting in winter (Pusan, Inchon)
Bombs bursting on rivers, in fields, in buildings
Bombs bursting on an unmarked road
northwest of Faluja, while other
mothers yet wave, yet wave,
still there, still there, grandchildren.
Someone is free
Someone is free
Someone is free
Someone is free
.