War Prayer
Everyone in his
platoon had been
killed or maimed
in Tiet or maybe
it was at Danang
in '68 or '69 it
wasn't clear which
but one thing was
certain what had
happened to him
was as immediate
as yesterday and
always would be
and no amount of
pints of Stout
with Power's backers
was about to charge
that nor would
the Special Forces
prawer he was
mumbling to himself
before he downed
each shot and slid
the dead soldier
across the bar
for a refill losing
track of the body
count consuming
the evidence an
internal atrocity
no statistic could
ever account for
by alan catlin
