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This writing was accepted for publication in the 108 page perfect-bound ISSN# / ISBN# issue/book “Approaching Front” cc&d (v251) (the Sep./Oct. 2014 Issue) You can also order this 6"x9" issue as a paperback book:

	enjoy this writing from Mike Brennan in the cc&d free 2014 PDF file chapbook: Postcards from Exile    (click on the front cover image or the title text to download the free PDF file, available with two different covers)				You can also order this release as a 2014 6" x 9" perfect-bound paperback ISBN# book! Click on the cover spread for the book Postcards from Exile

Order this writing in the book the Beaten Path (a Down in the Dirt Jan. - June 2014 collection book)		get the 372 page Jan. - June 2014 Down in the Dirt magazine issue collection 6" x 9" ISBN# paperback book:

Order this writing in the book One Solitary Word the cc&d July - Dec. 2014 collection book		get the 402 page July - Dec. 2014 cc&d magazine issue collection 6" x 9" ISBN# paperback book:

Blue 88’s

Mike Brennan


The German shells are still
Rocking the steel plank
I clutch as I roll backwards.
Stomach scorched, the fire
Behind my half-mast eyes.
A Medic gives me blue pills,
The ones that could kill
The Fatigue, Kraut 88 clank,
A sweeping left flank
I can’t dream away.

How many days have I been here?
All the while still being there?
Arriving back and forth
To and from the Front, every few hours,
With the first night being a full day
And the second, a shrieking half.

2^nd L.T. barks that we need to get all our gear secured,
“We are heading right back to Hell in the morning.„
Private Richardson tries to disagree, while wiping
A string of drool from parted, parched lips.
“You’re not blind. You’re not dead.
You still have all your limbs.
You’re going back to Bedlam soldier.„
Richardson whelps like an undisciplined pup but doesn’t say anything of sense.
I stare out at the unscathed countryside through snow white windows.
Asides from their accents the nurses remind me of Ashford, Connecticut.
Their whiteness of all the Christmases I missed.
There’s one who I dreamed I asked to the homecoming dance.
2 seconds before I was forced right back into the war.

I know everything I’ve been issued is still stuck in my locker
But I can’t bring myself up to my feet to either check nor clean.
I flip through a deck of cards until the medic makes another pass.
“Can I please have another Blue 88?„
He shakes his head arrogantly and hands me the pill.
I thank him with a nod and swallow it straight down.
Later I jerk awake with all my cards
Scattered across the floor. . .
I breathe shallow and soundless since
At the very least, I know-             there are still 4 more hours until morning.

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