the outlaw poetry network

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009...9:32 pm

mark weber | world war two

WORLD WAR TWO

sometimes just putting on
aaaathe right clothes makes you
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafeel strong

you found a file cabinet tossed out
aaaaaaaaaain an alley

and you wrestled it into your truck

but you were wearing your Hawaiian shirt
aaaaaaaaaand a dumpy hat
aaaaaathat only tourists can wear with impunity
aaaaaaaaaaaaalooking positively stupidly dumb with their white socks

it was heavy and bulky and you were feeling your age

now it’s in the driveway and you’ve washed it down with a hose

and you’ve changed into your jock strap and wife beater
(that shirt that Marlon Brando wore in STREETCAR)
an old pair of Levis and some jackboots
and a duckbill hat that says BUDWEISER on the brim
with a brocade of gold medallions

and for some reason you remember a friend who lives
on the Bay of Biscay in France
where giant cement bunkers for Nazi submarines
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaastill look out upon the Atlantic Ocean

and I think of howitzers and torpedoes and commandos
as I flex my muscles
testing to see if I still got it

Mark Weber | 28apr09