MARLBORO MAN
— Warren Longmire
third birthday caked-on mud, candy apple Iraqi juice
and a cowboy stick dangling on a piece of chapped lip.
soot-eyed Charlie clamped in grass and dirt splotches
Midwest made chin straps,
raised letters on plastic
“made in the US”
Newsweek coffee table happening and a full Time’s spread
postings on assorted blogs
a half-dead embed with a tight lens
a mite quicker on the draw
you almost killed him.
the day after
?
waking
wet mouth dribbling blood warm
in the back
of an all-expenses-paid auto repair class
Fallujah redneck snaps massless rifles at backfiring cars
you don’t know why
you wake up occasionally gripping your wife’s neck
like the last ration
a cat gorges on the inside of a dead Iraqi
you wake up to lumpy brown oatmeal
spokesmen duty.
Time’s man of the year
for an instant of war
and a shy kid
calls you a g.