Free falling five feet,
M-16 and grenade
outstretched as he descends
into the landmine’s
fragmented soul,
he becomes mythical,
a hero to be eulogized
by those he hates.
I remember him in 1963
getting coldcocked
by a stringbean man
at the bar of the Torch Club,
victim of his problematical mouth.
Despite that and the incident
when he yanked a ballcap
down Coach Moore’s porcine face,
they say he exited the chopper
screaming.