Get ready

Our CO
says because
people are
going to
die in
our care
and if
you don’t
know how
that will
make you
feel you
need to
get ready

while those
of us
who already
know who
have put
a rigid
body in
a white
plastic
bag or
wrapped
a dead
child in
a towel
like a
wet puppy

we already
know you
can’t get
ready
any more
than you
can make
it rain

or stop
the dreams
after it
happens.

How drunk is drunk enough

To forget
That hiccup
cough that
intercostal
tightening
when a
patient is
too far
gone

how drunk
is drunk
enough to
forget the
Afghan child
you wrap
in a
blanket to
hand back
to its
mother

how drunk
is drunk
enough to
face the
memory
of telling
your wife
how good
joining
the Navy
will be
for your
family.

To the twenty something who tried to give me advice on how to write poetry

Son
at 55
my advice
to you
is in
your 20s
try harder
to live
than
to write

the world
already has
too many
white boys
who think
they can
play the
blues.