(Oakland)
Robert Kimm
My uncle +
his 2nd wife
when he didn’t
know what to do
with his “2nd son”
(1st died in 1925)
would send me down
(all 18 yrs. fresh enlistee
of me)
to basement apt.
where a guy, a veteran
of some indeterminate war,
+ victim of gassing,
.. + I would sit
+ look thru his
regimental book
+ talk about
the Marne
+ Bealleau Wood
+ artillery positions
+ woods + bridges +
the not-very-advancing
Germans
about buddies shot
thru the head +
the french country-side:
eggs (always egg stories)
haystacks +
long sticks of french bread
riding home
unawares
on bicycles
oblivious to
wars merely
15 miles away
(Parlez vous?)
