Fourth Thursday

You and I met on a battlefield
You were not a nurse,
I was not a technician
You and I were soldiers,
Two people with guns pointed at opposite sides,
Our governments
Were two kids who loved to play
Capture the flag,
And we were the guardians,
We were the team on the wet fields
Knees soaked with our brothers
And sisters left lifeless by conflict
I was not a killer, I was a defender,
One last stop between patriotism
And nationalism
And my nation was myself
And you were not my country
And I was not your hero,
I was a grenade throwing
Rocket launching
occupant
Of your lands,
Breaching this contract for a taste
Of your grass

And every time I bit my tongue,
I tasted you,
Your scalp was in my crosshairs
As your beam centered on my heart
And if unlocking this part of me
Would set you free from the
Fingers of your idealism,
Then pull the trigger
It won't hurt,
No weapon formed against us
Shall prosper but each others,
I held the gun and you held the rockets
And when we closed our eyes,
I swear we saw bombs
The trenches close,
The ground was flat
And the only war was
Between us and father time
To see who would last longer






And we promised
to hold our hands
like the grips of our weapons
Never light stepping around our duty,
Because you were loyal to me
And I was loyal to you,
And we were loyal to our countries

And in the presence of our
Of platoons,
We would stand back to back,
Ready for a quick draw
But at least I could feel your
Fingertips against mine
And with every step away from
Each other, you remembered
Our invasion,
I remembered your rejections
You would say you hate me
I would say I hate you
And we would turn
With our weapons raised
And scream each others names
Louder than our muzzles could
And shoot each others
Bullets out the air

Until all that stood was us,
Chest to chest, taking
In each others breath like
Narcotics, calm, our first laugh
Since the battlefield erupted
With your comrades and my
Friends at the top the of the hill
And our weapons embracing
We'll raise our guns
And declare war on everything
Because we were a nation
We were nationals,
I am your patriot
And you are my Jefferson,
And all that matters
Is that our last breath
Belongs to us,
We were our Coup D'état,
And as the bullet struck my stomach
And one caught your shoulder
We became our own flags.

***

You are one of the cool girls
I was one of the nerds
You weapon was a cell phone,
Mine was a Game Boy
And your friends could
Not take my friends
And our weapons
Were aimed at each other
Until we realized there
Was no flag to capture,
And when the bullet struck my stomach
And one caught your shoulder
They found out.