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UNDERGROUND VOICES: POETRY
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NATHAN A. BAKER
Casualties of War My daddy’s war brought him back home Still floundering like an eel out of water Three years of fighting left him unsuited For most everything but demolition work Alcohol did little to mute his explosions Into a dark reality so we all learned to tiptoe Around him like he was made of nitroglycerin Mama received the brunt of his forcefulness His only son and three daughters became Love’s innocent sacrificial lambs for the slaughter Our emotional offerings tenderized by blunt force And irreconcilable differences of opinion Spiteful gnats still drink from childhood’s sweat Burning are my sandspur memories of Carolina A Fish Out of Water It was low tide and we were Searching for shark’s teeth At the surf’s edge Not having much luck I decided to walk on up the beach Toward the fishing pier It was just after daylight And the sun was rising gold to silver Painting the morning Gloriously blue The platform was quiet except for A few fishermen At piers end Waiting for the big ones to show They had not arrived yet I walked back to the middle Of the pier and sat down on a bench The fellow to my left Was reeling in a small shark It was putting up a pretty good fight But he finally reeled it to rail edge Damn Sharks, the fisherman muttered Immediately cutting the line and Allowing the fish, hook in mouth, to fall Back into the vastness of ocean where Rejection was celebrated with a splash Nathan is a carpenter/poet living in the mountains of Tennessee. His poetry has appeared at Red River Review, Tamafyhr Mountain Poetry, Lily, Underground Window, Zafusy, and Blue House. |
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© 2006 Underground Voices |
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