Military Intelligence
Janet Kuypers, 11/24/06
“So a few Marines from the same department
were working together, and when there’s nothing going on
they’ll get bored.
Now, they’re both six foot
or six foot one each,
and the two hundred fifty pound one
would just give the one hundred sixty pound one a look,
and they’d know the challenge was on.
Well, this time the challenge
was with Skittles,
that little rock sour candy
with the sweet and tart center,
well, they’d grab a bag of Skittles,
and each would fill a hand
brimming-full with Skittles.
Then the trick would be
that they’d each shove all of these Skittles
in their mouths
but not swallow,
and see who would win the contest
for who could keep their mouth
full of Skittles for the longest amount of time.
Each one would try to make the other one laugh,
and they couldn’t speak
with all of these Skittles stuck in their mouths.
That, and when you cram all of these Skittles
in your mouth, you’ll start salivating
like nothing else, just to counteract
the sweetness and the tartness
in your mouth.
Well, these two Marines,
trying to fill some times
while working in the same depoartment
would be salivating to save their lives,
all trying at the same time
to keep these Skittles in their mouths,
not laugh,
and not swallow.
I just remember one of them, one time,
with their head over the garbage can,
salivating over a toilet,
letting a river run to it,
just to try to win the bet.”
Copyright
Chicago Poet Janet Kuypers.
All rights reserved. No material
may be reprinted without express permission.
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