He smelled bad and was red-eyed with the miseries
of being scared while sleepless when he said
this: “I want a private woman, peace and quiet,
and some green stuff in my pocket. Fuck
the rest.” Pity the underwear and socks,
long burnt, of an accomplished murderer,
oh God, of germans and replacements, who
refused three stripes to keep his B.A.R.,
who fought, fought not to fight some days
like any good small businessman of war,
and dug more holes than an outside dog
to modify some Freudian’s thesis: “No
man can stand three hundred days
of fear of mutilation and death.” What he
theorized was a joke: “To keep a tight
asshole, dry socks and a you-deep hole
with you at all times.” Afterwards,
met in a sports shirt with a round wife, he was
the clean slave of a daughter, a power brake
and beer. To me, he seemed diminished
in his dream, or else enlarged, who knows?,
by its accomplishment: personal life
wrung from mass issues in a bloody time
and lived out hiddenly. Aside from sound
baseball talk, his only interesting remark
was, in pointing to his wife’s belly, “If
he comes out left foot first” (the way
you Forward March!), “I am going to stuff
him back up.” “Isn’t he awful?” she said.
(Alan Dugan)
More Poetry from Alan Dugan:
Alan Dugan Poems based on Topics: God, Woman, War & Peace, Jokes & Humor, Death & Dying, Man, Fear, Power, Dreams, Sports, Success- Two Quits And A Drum, And Elegy For Drinkers (Alan Dugan Poems)
- Wall, Cave, And Pillar Statements, After Asoka (Alan Dugan Poems)
- Against A Sickness: To The Female Double Principle God (Alan Dugan Poems)
- Remembering An Account Executive (Alan Dugan Poems)
- On The Civil War On The East Coast Of The United States Of North America 1860-64 (Alan Dugan Poems)
- Internal Migration: On Being On Tour (Alan Dugan Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Man Poems, God Poems, Death & Dying Poems, War & Peace Poems, Dreams Poems, Fear Poems, Success Poems, Woman Poems, Power Poems, Daughters Poems, Sports PoemsBased on Keywords: red-eyed, thesis, baseball, asshole, mutilation, businessman, modify, hiddenly, replacements, freudian, theorized