Dead Man's Float
milwaukee, wisconsin. sometime
near the beginning of the war.
a 4th of july parade, amid news
paper reports of bodies found
dismembered, dumped in trashcans
along the lake michigan beaches.
we decorate our tricycles
with fireproof red white & blue
streamers. we pump along the route,
waving our flags, grinning
at patriot parents. later
that summer i fell in a lake
& survived. my too-old-for-the-war
uncle began to teach me to swim.
arms out. legs out. face
in the water, holding my breath:
learning to live, practicing death.
Hal
Halvard Johnson
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website: http://home.earthlink.net/~halvard
blog: http://entropyandme.blogspot.com/
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