by Amy Ouzoonian
Have a barbeque.
Support the Troops.
Honor the fallen.
Drop wreathes in the Hudson River.
Drop grenades on homes in Fallujah.
Spray a mother and child with bullets
while chanting Terrazas! Terrazas!
Force your kid to play a trumpet
in 95 degree weather, watch him
collapse in the stifling heat.
Kill the kid’s parents and then
feel bad about it and ask him
how he feels. Commend them on
their bravery, honor their hero
mother and father and give those
brave kids big hugs that won’t
give them mommy and daddy back
and tell them their mommy and daddy
did a self-less and honorable thing.
Ask the orphan children of Iraq
if they want a hotdog or a hamburger.
With your back to the propane grill,
Just purchased from Home Depot,
Ask a soldier
Would you like a road side bomb?
Or Coke with that?
You don't get a choice but
you can lose a limb, a future,
your mind
charbroiled over a bed of greens
tossed lightly with oil and
lots of blood.
Amy Ouzoonian is a playwright, poet and editor of two anthologies of poetry including the recently released In the Arms of Words: Poems for Disaster Relief. She is the author of a book of poetry Your Pill and editor of A Gathering of the Tribes magazine. www.locknloadpublishing.com