(for Jeff & Bobby, and all the rest)

He and I got into it

a shouting match

a big one

snatches of overheard conversations

“. . . he had Jane Fonda arrested,” and

“. . . near Pleiku . . . ”

and that lousy packet coffee

“. . . either a major assault, or a major offensive . . .”

and picking out several big, fat thorns

and I said to this guy --

he was a sergeant, too --

“Otherwise we’re gonna get greased,

according to my LRP teams”

I drank the coffee, said

“Can you spare another one?”

(meaning smokes), thinking

and when they come

they’re gonna come in swarms

but sweat drying, now and

those thorn-bites, ruby beads

I’d finished the coffee

and thanked him, hugged him

and I said, “Get your shit together:

this is a heads up”

slapped him on the shoulder and said

I’d told him everything I knew,

told him to get the hell outta there!

and he got pissed off