Don in the California Quarterly
Great news: Don Parker’s poem, “Blood Chit,” was accepted by the California Quarterly (CQ) for publication in their current issue. Congratulations Don! I couldn’t find it online, so here’s the entire poem:
BLOOD CHIT*
A young marine, his weapon left behind
walks quietly into the night alone . . .
away from comrades, all fatigued, supine.
He’s done. Bonds severed, he feels he can’t atonefor all his killing and the cries of grief:
the sight of body parts— a baby’s arm,
a mother’s breast among the kumquat leaves:
the guilt a sore, a mine he can’t disarm.More guilt: code requires his unit search for him
and give their lives and limbs because they share
what it is to be Marines in battle trim.
Checks his pocket, feels no blood chit there . . .The Taliban won’t welcome him as friend;
Afghanistan, no Arkansas, will be his end.*A patch given to the military when in hostile territory. On one side there’s an American flag and on the other, in several local languages: “Anyone helping this person to safety will receive a reward.”
This entry was posted on Friday, January 22nd, 2010 at 12:46 pm and is filed under Published. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
