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Wars that Cannot End All Wars

(x = space)

x

x

Wars that Cannot End All Wars

(on D-Day citing Second, other wars)

x

I can’t imagine

All the dead and dying on

That day

I won’t see or hear

Private Ryan

(or

by the way

Titanic)

I’ve known some injury and

Death

From crashes and

From cancer

The

Suicides

By people I have known

x

Sardined into a craft and then

The craft

By planes above

Or guns on shore

Explodes

On its way

To shore

Or those who leave

The boats

And are cut down

Unused guns

Held

Grenades

At hand

x

By the numbers the

Campaign

Was successful

In that the Allies

Overwhelmed the beaches

Finally

Finally

The parts once come together

A hold by hand

As far as

The living and the dead can

Hold

A military grasp

On the edge of Europe

x

A return

As when

MacArthur would return

An axis away

To the Philippines

x

Military plans

And executions

When it’s

Time

We go

x

Citizen expectations

Change

The accepted loss

In Desert Storm

Was zero

(under two

hundred

died)

Though we lingered

In Afghanistan through

Presidents

The war on terror

By the numbers

And at home

x

These were their homes

The beaches

On into

Farms and towns

War anymore

Is always a home

Matter

Your home

Or mine

x

Imagine that

And live it in

Ukraine

And all the burning places

That could be called

Without PR

Sites

Homes

For war

x

Trenches

Chlorine gas

Same place

Years before

That is

France

Greater numbers next

Nuclear

Numbers

In Japan

Winning

Losing

Graves attest

x

Mostly

We try

Nowadays

To keep all of it conventional

Though there are strategies

And plans

That

We must hope

Stay shelved

Recalling

Greater victory is peace

Living on

These same places

This

Same planet

After

x

C L Couch

x

x

6 June 1944

x

as soon as I realized the date there was a Western (admittedly) instinctive resonance—that something enormous, consequential happened on this date when it was a day a long time ago

x

Photo by Eric HOARAU on Unsplash

Le Tréport, France

x

0

Narrative for Veteran’s Day

(x = space)

x

x

Narrative for Veteran’s Day

x

I hope the veterans

Have a good day today

They served

Time to be serving them

Certain restaurants

Will do that literally

(track the ads)

x

There was a draft

I was in school

A war for oil fomenting

As if primordial

Muck were heating

In the gulf

(not that war

in the gulf

or the next one)

There was an energy crisis

Hiding profits

x

I didn’t want to fight

For companies’ oil

But when on the application

I was asked

If there were anything I would fight for

I had to answer yes

And so ruin the deal for c-o

And the draft board changed

My status

(they won’t admit to punishment)

From 1-H to 1-A

x

Well, that war didn’t start

There were numbers

But no draft

I finished school

And then the next one

And with Watergate

Had reasons to feel bitter

Toward my government,

Which since then

Has become increasingly

Stupid and useless

x

But love of country

All the stickers

All the posters

The Bicentennial

If we forget who is in charge

There are superlative reasons

To be serving

And they have served

Time to be serving them

x

My brother

And my father

And my grandfathers

Came back

My friend Patricia

Returned, retired

A full colonel

x

There are those

The many, many those

Who did not return

And have their days

And who cannot remember them?

Anytime and every time

We should?

x

Red poppies will festoon

And sides of buildings carry

Words of verses

“In Flanders Fields”

And that is London today

Here there will be flowers, too,

And flags

And I hope everywhere

That she has served

And he

And they

And all the fields

Nourished by remembrance

With all the hopes

And wishful strategies

To change

x

C L Couch

x

x

carrying the burden of a nation

Photo by Joel Rivera-Camacho on Unsplash

U.S. Marines with Combat Logistics Regiment 17, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, conduct vehicle recovery drills on Camp Pendleton, California, Apr. 6, 2021.The Marines of Motor Transportation Platoon pride themselves not only on their vehicles, but on each Marines’ hard work, dedication, and drive to excel in all they do.

Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Fallbrook, United States

x

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From the Margin to the Center

(x = space)

x

x

From the Margin to the Center

(Charles III)

x

He said it in his speech

Bring the marginal

To the center

They might need rides

And smart, official people left behind

To assess the situation

x

They need to come

Angry, surly

Cynical and hopeful

Their pain needs to be understood

Not so much talked about

x

They’ll need a promise

Not assurances

The weight of a contract

And a moral contract

As if made with the ground

The promisers are standing on

x

God help the British king

To bring back

The table round

And a belief of might for right

As classically expressed

Though contemporary lived

Policy

And money

Where they matter

x

England is still post-war

And inside war

And must be ready still for another

But all the lonely people

Isolated like the wanderer

In an ice age that was once the north

Of need,

The people need companionship

And energy

Ways to live feasibly

As an island nation

As the English,

Each one

And together

x

Don’t talk

(anyone)

So much next time

As act

God save the king

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Anna Dziubinska on Unsplash

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