Fall 2011 - The University of Scranton
Fall 2011 - The University of Scranton
Fall 2011 - The University of Scranton
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Closer still and the machine-marked minutia—<br />
<strong>The</strong> just visible, uniformed lines, glare at me.<br />
I turn it over and it reveals its alter-ego<br />
Blackened: burnt by the flash <strong>of</strong> powder.<br />
Curved, conical, it rocks back and forth.<br />
A distorted, fractured fragment,<br />
But now perceptibly part <strong>of</strong> a whole.<br />
Six partial comb-like threads<br />
Mark the rough tip <strong>of</strong> the fragment,<br />
Once home to the ignition system<br />
Of the 120-mm mortar round<br />
From which this fighter flew.<br />
Pock-marked powder granules<br />
Grace the encasement.<br />
Engrained, etched into the steel,<br />
Tiny travelers <strong>of</strong> spent explosive.<br />
Battered but bloodless<br />
I can’t help but remember why.<br />
This rage-filled rocket struck<br />
<strong>The</strong> concrete wall in front <strong>of</strong> me.<br />
Its cousins the coroner cut<br />
From SPC Daclan’s mutilated body.<br />
Surviving still this shrapnel shard,<br />
You haunt the halls <strong>of</strong> our broken dreams.<br />
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