Uncle Sol
I cast away a trove of my uncle’s World War II bounty
Military orders handwritten on parchment
Photographs of shamed collaborator women
being paraded naked down the screaming streets
Next to letters of commendation
Nazi medals
Sewing kits. Bootie.
Jingoism and heroism on display.
With old correspondence
And letters from abroad.
He was in the psychological warfare unit,
Aide and driver to the Unit Commander.
I so admired the smell of his shaving cream
And cigarette smoke
mixed with the aroma of his morning
ablutions and eliminations
There
Next to the jeep
With the beautiful French women
Never married
Nor producer of offspring.
Who care that he served with valor
This unknown soldier
Absolutely anonymous
To all but me and a few cousins
One who turned a starter postage stamp collection
Into books upon books filled with cancelled postage stamps
Worth exactly nothing these decades later
Except to me
That I now throw into the fire.
Poetry
- 99 Gratitudes in 3 Minutes – A Yoga Chanting Poem
- A Poem is Born
- After The News
- Alan
- Alan Is Dead
- American Wedding, 2011
- Ask the Sphinx – 2 approaches
- Baggage Claim
- Beach Plum Jam
- Beau Dies
- between spiders
- Burnt Wood – for Bubi
- Call it what it is
- Conversation With A Ladle
- Coyote in the House
- Crow’s Song
- Day break
- Death Factories
- Death of the Dolphin
- Furry Bug
- Gospel of the Redwood
- Insects in Amber
- It: In Honor of Dr. Seuss
- Journey to Standing Rock
- Kevin Garnett in Africa
- Life among the barbarians
- Long ago, perhaps yesterday
- Mandalay Hills
- Mesquite Dunes
- Miles’ Ashes
- Miles’ Journey
- My First Yoga Teacher
- One Drop of Rain
- Salton Sea
- Self Love
- Sunrise
- The Love Life of Clams
- Throwing Away
- Uncle Sol
- What The Stones Say
- when spring arrives ice flows out of the bay
- Whispering Among The Gods
- Willow
- Winter Fog
- Work and Love are What Really Matter: a reunion poem for the BHS class of 1958 reunion
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