Memorial Day Missiles/Memories

Political thugs in shark suits persuade us to pull triggers...

This is for...

Ivol Brown

and

Raheem Browder

and

Marc Edmond

and

Antonio Fernandes

Memorial Day

where we honor those

who served

and fought

and died

in the armed forces

in militarized zones

far from home

usually...

and 

Terrance Johnson

and 

Mark Thomas-Little

and

Gerda Bissett

and

Terrence Jacobs

and

sometimes home is where

the hell is as well

where some 

with and without a sense

of self

are forced

to arm themselves

and make sense of inner

city living conditions

that cause PTSD

and

Curtis Ashford

and

Terrence Kelly

and

Jefferson Johnson

and

Nicholas Fomby-Davis

too many sons

whose lungs no longer pump

oxygen

so we inhale purple haze

too sour for the lips

so we daze out on

lazy, rainy afternoons

reliving daytime nightmares

where we scheme like sesame street 

puppets

but instead

just dangle from tattered ropes

with no hope

for wardrobe changes 

or script re-writes

vetted by our instincts

so we get it how we live it

often aimlessly

guided missiles still getting fired by misguided men