Bullets and Bibles
Jennifer Cahoon
Praying now
High up on his
Top bunk. Perched,
He sees himself
Jesus-like
Better man than most
“the few, the proud”
champion of crucibles
like tests of God
to see who should be saved
or destroyed
with a plague
or the pull of a trigger.
He sits in mass
Full camouflage
To hide himself
From enemies
And sings the hymnals
Of peaceful men
Who never learned to maim or kill
Jesus never felt the sting
Of tear gas
As this Marine has
And yet he sees God as his
Brother, father, friend
Somehow
Until one day
When God is on the
Other side
Of barbed wire fence