Manhattan
having shot children
we return to too many faces
shuffling sundown drenched streets
brown black or pale
sweating
some seem accusatory
but soon under towers’ shadows
we see we’re still okay
cause of the few
out on Hudson’s water
not a one
is walking on it
American Weddings
why do american weddings almost never get bombed?
because after an early morning knot tying
americans eat celebratory bowls
of Multi-Grain Cheerios™
instead of shooting AK-47s into the air
sure
that
and they don’t get married in afghanistan
Shoot At Me
fear is watching tracers stitch
between your sniper partner’s legs
when at dusk his desert BDUs
sprint the dusty road
that winds the valley
up to Sper Kunday
love is hoping the Talib gunner
will notice your humvee
will decide your truck
-a lumbering behemoth of a target
compared to a single sprinting man-
is in need of stitching
Poems copyrighted by Ryan Stovall, used with permission.
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