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