Editor's Choice Chapbook Series
Main Street Rag, 2007
This book was written as an homage to my father who served in the WWII Battle of the Bulge. He was a POW for 8 months and suffered terrible PTSD (called shell shock back then). He was wounded and received a Purple Heart. He became ill during his imprisonment. Our whole family ended up with the fallout of his experience. I decided to write these poems to get him some closure. Sadly, he died before I wrote the book and never got to read it.
Sample poem from the book (p. 7)
Wagering the Future
In deep Ardennes snow, with an idea
of a better future, growing boys
in men’s uniforms waged war.
No games in the backyard, no plastic
army men; this was the real McCoy.
War is a bet on the margin;
no guarantee of a big payoff, a win
not always a win. When the call comes
the wagers are placed, the ante
always bigger than expected.
So it was for us, not yet born
when our fathers marched off to war.
The margin bet has been called:
time to pay up, or to collect the prize.
For some, the usurer knocks at the door.
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