hemp toast, boy,
& chain-link firecrackers
maketh man
no, not the talk
− nor the other one
about gunshots & glove compartments.
I found man as
vultures did
for fire & from firefights
& in the thick of something
almost new.
man was that rush of
look
at what he did &
fought
for what he loved & then
man was love
& sacrifice
was barbie camaraderie &
VA promises
to a man, it was
that collective, fraternité,
mine inherited from the man
whose brotherhood died, to a man, &
to a man, field rations & too many shells became
hemp toast & firecrackers & boy
made man from chains
Heirlock Magazine 