BAD BOYS

BAD BOYS

We had tough guys in my neighborhood.
They were always angling for a fight.
They were the first guys in the trouble du jour.
When we got caught the cops gave us a rap
Then when we got home Pop whooped us good.
But with some tough guys it never sank in.
They tried the next worse thing and then the next, too.
After so much trouble they got to go in the Army
and fight in the jungle.
Maybe they'd get it out of their system. Or not.

- Copyright © 2010 by Anthony Buccino, all rights reserved.
From AMERICAN BOY: Pushing Sixty

TO MARIE

There you are, smiling, your jackhammer arms resting across the barrel of your cannon.
The chalk mark names the woman you love to “Marie Lovely” from the jungle on Guadalcanal.

You decided to wait til you got back to marry
the skinny girl you met at the roller rink.
Some of the guys you’re serving with didn’t.
You’re sure, right now, you made the right choice.

To "Marie”, her name in chalk
on the barrel of a killing machine.
What would she say
when she sees this picture?

Is she glad you’re thinking of her, that you’ll kill the  enemy in her name?
Or will she be so happy to have you home again this photo will not matter?

-- Copyright © 2010 by Anthony Buccino, all rights reserved.
Photos and content may not be used for commercial purposes without written permission.

RIP, Marie.
Twenty years, and it still seems like yesterday.
There's so much to tell you, I know you are still listening.
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