Restrepo
By Patricia Goodwin
the world fights one civil war
there are no more countries
only banks
we fight ourselves
with our own guns
Restrepo,
you who are there in the dust
you who know
nothing but your own ecstasy
at being shot at
the thrill of the kill
the erection
of living for now
sparrows learn to fly high out of gun shot
in a country occupied yet again
the blue eyes of the elders glaze over when you speak
half-heartedly, they stab the juice box with the straw you gave them
while you mispronounce their language
poppies bob in the breeze
with or without your death
the road inches closer to the pipeline
Patricia Goodwin is a writer and poet, and author of the book, Atlantis (Plum Press, 2006), poems about the United States being another Atlantis.
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