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| Image source: How Stuff Works |
Lindeman
Lost most of my hearing
In the Bulge. I forgot
to wear ear plugs firing
a One O’Five.
After a while
I didn’t need ear plugs.
Leveler
Couldn’t stand to see
a building standing
no matter how small
—not a stone, but
wanted all down
to the geometric line
of earth and sky.
Winter Offensive
Slipped our condoms on
the barrels of our carbines
in the snow-packed Ardennes,
stretching, snapping tight
to the butt.
Worked great,
Keeping out the wet and dirt.
Richard O’Connell lives in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Collections of his poetry include RetroWorlds, Simulations, Voyages, and The Bright Tower, all published by the University of Salzburg Press (now Poetry Salzburg). His poems have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, National Review, The Paris Review, Measure, Acumen.