Irons:

She is heavy leaded
with sagging shoulder blades,
got mercury and acid from the 70s in her veins
brick factory from the Great Depression in her basement
Orange preserves in jam jars,
her six brothers weren't draft dodgers
They fought and came back from Vietnam
could tell you stories of kids strapped with bombs
that'll make your skin crawl
came home without parades,
people threw bottles at their heads
called the men 'baby killers'
Arthur was a marine
tied a rope to an attic rafter and hung himself
His sister went mad
was locked away
in some white padded cage
the doctors, parents, friends
stretched their arms back till the muscles clenched
and threw that iron key
straight into the Mediterranean Sea
the world forgot all about her
and the hanged marine

Comments

Popular Posts