A Marlboro Marine ~

“Any day above ground is a good one”. ~ James Blake Miller,
aka, Marlboro Marine.

The zippo sprang open, the whirl split the silence as it lit the comfort that Miller grasped between his lips. As you watched him inhale, taking in the sunrise over cemetery trees, you wondered, did he spy a sun we civilians shall never know.

Oh brother, he prays,
be my civilian marine,
moral code of leather, not blues;
draw down that gun forever,
the sun, this son’s, light fades
within the smoked haze of war.
What did we gain from that loss
sustained?

The shame flows over him,
he stands wounded despite
unbroken camouflaged skin,
blood drains from every vein
remembering the life, the lives,
alive and dead, he left behind;

Iraq, 2004, he left that soil
still smoking; a humble hero,
a Marlboro Marine
of wars.

*****************************
This piece was fashioned in conjunction with an assignment for an online writing class. I was very moved by the photo-documentary by Luis Sinco for the LA Times. I highly recommend clicking on the link or the picture to view this moving 16 minute photo-doc.

Posted by angela on 2011/07/30

http://yellowhousecafe.wordpress.com/2011/07/30/a-marlboro-marine/