---

 

This writing was accepted for publication in the 108-page perfect-bound ISSN#/ISBN# issue/paperback book “Nihilism for Dummies” cc&d, v314 (the October 2021 issue) Order the 6"x9" paperback book:

Order this writing in the book The World Outside the cc&d Sep.-Dec. 2021 magazine issues collection book		get the 424 page Sep.-Dec. 2021 cc&d magazine 6" x 9" ISBN# paperback book:

Coffeehouse Poem # 466

Erren Kelly

an asian girl came in to order something
but the kitchen was closed
her army green dress, brushed
against the floor as she left

earlier, as i was walking down
mass ave
a white man noticed my backpack
he said it looked like the one
he had in the marine corps
i told him i got it at a men’s shelter
in california

as we’re walking, he told me
about his two tours in
afghanistan,
how he was shot in the back
and spent six months
in a hospital
then, he told me of his second
tour, how in the vehicle
he was driving
ran over a land mine, triggering it
killing every one of his crew
two men, he grew up with in
dorchester, yet, he was ejected
from the vehicle

doctors told him
he shouldn’t be alive
i told him, god wasn’t ready
for him yet

even after the marine corps
got him addicted to oxycotin
he still served

two purple hearts
wasn’t enough thanks

i wish my friend could meet
the asian woman, this woman
who wears the color of
sacrifice and war
i want him to dance with her
to take her into his arms
as if her body, was the cure he needed and
move around with her, as if
love could stop war alone
i want them to move, to know
peace always begins in an embrace
that a woman can be the elixir
that cures all suffering

he holds her close, as the war
is ending

Copyright of written pieces remain with the author, who has allowed it to be shown through Scars Publications and Design.Web site © Scars Publications and Design. All rights reserved. No material may be reprinted without express permission from the author.

Problems with this page? Then deal with it...