IPFW Student Writes Poetry Based on Army Experience

About the Author:
Michael Skeeters resides in Fort Wayne and is a student at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW). He served in the U.S. Army’s 1st 28th Infantry, 221st Ordinance, Confidential.

The Spirit

The Chaplain Captain
would often talk to me
He was once gold
and I enlisted green
To go through an NCO
was not a need
and He with the silver cross
wasn’t much likely
to say I’m sinning
when I excelled
at bayonet fighting
Kill Kill Kill
cold as steel
Blood blood blood
makes the green grass grow
The spirit of the bayonet

Hopeful

This canister grenade
of olive drab green
will help the med evac
chopper see me
puffing smoke
if the mine
blew me up
below the knee

These Days

The camo matrix
print or brown
desert tint
in a Battle dress
uniform not like
mine
Before the world
changed I wore or warred
in woodland green
Somalia and Kosovo
matching the trees

Preferences

I would really rather
be shot by an AK-47
than an M-16 A1, A2, or
A3?
It’s been so long
Friendly firing tumbling
round could enter your
thigh
and spin out your neck
naturally in a tumbling
round
Nuclear Holocaust
exposure gives me the order
to plunge a needle in my
heart
so I can squeeze off another
magazine

Cadence

And we sing
glory soldier
Combat soldier
pick up your
weapon and follow
me We
are the infantry
Buddy’s in the Foxhole
a bullet in his head
I went to tell the CO
but he’s already dead

Drill & Ceremony

Throwing our guns
down the line
to each other
right in front
of Drill Sergeant’s
face
like so many ways
to train
You just can’t fuck up

Relationships

She saw me in front
graduating
squad leader
honor platoon
Basic training
my Drill Sergeant
won the cycle
bearing and guarding
the colors
She went to hug me
I pulled away
She broke up with
me on the phone
One parade shined
combat boot evening
She went to Westpoint
I Enlisted and finally
her green became gold
fraternizing a love
that just couldn’t be
With those 101 Eagles
that New Lieutenant
Screams
I’m proud that she once
loved me

Boots

Mine were black as hell
and had a mirror shine
Only on the toe and heel
the leather doesn’t move
They made them kiwi
the green jungle boots
And jump boots look like
teeth
marching in all terrain
These damn things
suck on ice

Fun

Driving along
in a five-ton
truck full
of bombs
Adrenalin rush
“Did you check
that damn Air filter!?!”