Something you don’t see every day

Miller was

telling me

that his

mother had

used rope

pulleys and

a cement block

to build

the perfect

suicide she

had tied

a plastic

bag over

her head

then pushed

the cement

block off

the bed

and its

weight pulled

the ropes

tied around

her wrists

through the

pulleys down

and to the

ends of her

bed where

she died

crucifix style

unable to

pull the bag

off even if

she wanted to

It was

an impressive

piece of

engineering

for a woman

who never

finished high

school, Miller

said

It’s too bad

she couldn’t

use that

forethought

and ingenuity

to figure out

a reason

to stay alive

he said this

just before

looking up

at the giant

moon still

in the 6 am

sky he pointed

and said

now there

is something

you don’t

see every day.

Before Afghanistan 

I had

a wife

and 4 kids

and a job

and friends

and I guess

I still have

those things

but now

I also have

the war

and the war

says I

am your wife

I am

Your children

I am

Your job

and I

am your

only friend

but don’t worry

I will not

let you

be that vet

who puts

his head

in the noose

but you

will be the

one I send

to cut him down

over and over

again in your dreams.

Matthew Borczon is a poet and a recently retired Navy Sailor from Erie Pa. He has written 17 books of poetry, his latest, PTSD: a Liiving Will, is available from Rust Belt Press. When not writing Matt is an LPN and a father of four children.