MARK IRWIN
Uniform
Coming straight down
Magnolia Drive the wheelchair with the vet screaming,
“Com’on, hit me, God
dammit, hit me,”
and he hit my stopped
Honda, again and again, blood on one chrome
rail of his chair. “Hit
me, please,” he said, “hit me.”
* * *
Samuel Johnson said, “A
book should either allow us to escape existence
or teach us how to endure
it.” Some people I think
are books—like the
Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasasbeh who—dressed in an orange gown,
doused with gasoline by
ISIS—was placed in a steel cage and burned alive.
Unrestrained, hopping,
smacking the flames on his face,
unable to escape or
endure, he finally collapses, every orange page of him wanting to rise.
* * *
Funny how for a child
objects always seem
permanent the way, for an adult, people are not.
Tara, putting on her
school blouse, says to her toy-green parakeet, “Never disappear.”
Jack says to his stuffed
tiger, “Grrrr, Grrrr,” then hides it in the special drawer.
* * *
There was a light rain on
Magnolia Drive and the smell of apple blossoms
connected all the living
world. The vet had scabs on his hands
and the wheelchair gleamed
in sunlight as the scent of blood mixed with pollen.
Spit hung from his chin.
He talked about Khe Sanh, just south
of the DMZ, the chopper
trying to lift, mortar fire—and then pulled a piece of green
cloth from his pocket,
laughed, and called me a crazy mother fucker. A robin
sang as the world
stopped. I remember this so well.
Mark Irwin is the author of ten collections of poetry, including Shimmer (2020), A Passion According to Green (2017), American Urn: Selected Poems (1987-2014), and Bright Hunger (2004). Recognition for his work includes The Nation/Discovery Award, two Colorado Book Awards, four Pushcart Prizes, the James Wright Poetry Award, the Philip Levine Prize for Poetry, and fellowships from the Fulbright, Lilly, and NEA.
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