A high-ranking military officialwhen you get somewhere in the military
when you grease the right wheels
when you climb the corporate ladder
when you get as high as you can
I
An Admiral, A General
A high-ranking military official
when you get somewhere in the military
when you grease the right wheels
when you climb the corporate ladder
when you get as high as you can
when you make your graceful exit
when you’ve been adorned with pins
and medals
and badges of honor
and you’ve got all your stripes on your sleeve
when you accomplish it all
and when you retire
well, then what?
II
the effects of age are getting to me
my vision is shot to hell
my contacts kill me and
my glasses are so old
they’re only half the strength of my prescription
so when i look at things
i notice the blur more than
i notice the detail
my senses of taste and smell are shot to hell
i throw so much garlic on food for flavor
that i offend my friends and family
and i can’t even smell
when i smell
i mean, cologne is lost to me
my one ear is closed most of the time
and it feels like i’ve got water in my ear
and it hurts for me
to hear myself even breathe
damnit, i can’t even sing any more
and do one of the things
i actually like to do
i try to hear beautiful sounds
but people are usually talking over it instead
and all i can hear
is their incessant bickering and whining
and god damnit, i try to enjoy something
every once in a while
and something more irritating
is usually in the way
you know, i’d rely on writing
but for a while, i couldn’t even do that
and what do you have then?
i can feel it in my left ankle
like i can’t carry weight like i could any longer
and my left knee keeps cracking and popping
and my sister says,
you know,
you’ve got the ‘kuypers’ knees
and i guess the kuypers have bad knees
and i was always unaware of that
the knuckle in my right thumb
has been swollen for over a decade
and even the doctors can’t find anything wrong
and whenever i write
i grip the pen so tight
that my fingers hurt
and all i can feel
is the ache in my joints
III
and whenever i look down
and see the scars on my body
and i should be proud of some
and some would say that i should be proud
of surviving some traumas
and having the scars to prove it
but all i see are the scars
and all i feel are the aches and pains
is this what scars do to you?
or is it the memory
of surviving the trials
and getting the scars
and is THIS what you have to show
for everything you’ve done
are these your pins and military stripes
you get after you accomplished your goal?
because what do you do
when you’re retired
do people care about your medals of honor
or do you earn so many
that they just weigh you down?
Scars Publications and Design
in conjunction with Penny Dreadful Press
first edition
copyright @ 2004 Scars Publications and Design
827 Brian Court, Gurnee IL 60031-3155 USA
Editor@scars.tv
http://scars.tv
and assistance from Freedom & Strength Foundation, Troy Press, Hawthorne Press & Dried Roses Press
printed in the United States of America
writings @ 1979-2004 Janet Kuypers
book design @ 1998-2004 Scars Publications and DesignThis book, as a whole, is fiction, and no correlation should be made between events in the book and events in real life. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the publisher.Information about past books is available upon request through Scars Publications and Design. Materials from the literary magazines “Children, Churches and Daddies” and “Down in the Dirt” are available on line at http://scars.tv, as are .mp3 files, .ra files, .aif files, .au files, .wav files .mov and mpeg files of Kuypers, both reading her work and singing with three sets of musicians.Oeuvre is published through Scars Publications and Design, whose publisher is a member/minister through the Universal Life Church. Scars Publications and Design, the logo and associated graphics @ 1979 - 2004. All rights reserved. Kuypers and Scars Publications and Design welcome your comments, tips, compliments or complaints. Direct all comments and suggestions to the e-mail addresses listed above.The definition of oeuvre (the works of a writer, painter, or the like, taken as a whole) is from the Websters Unabridged 2001 Dictionary.