only

Imagination and

Disgust

opined the

Young

Fool

sitting on a

Rock at the

edge of the

Road as the

Soldiers

Goose

Stepped by

their

shiny

Black

Boots kicking up

Dust

sets us

apart from the

Beasts

Summer of

72 by some

Chance for some

Reason

Apathy

Defiance

Bad tude

Oppositional

Behavior my

Parents at the

End of their

Tethers put me on a

Lufthansa

747 to

Germany I’d been

Reading

Hemingway the

Short

Stories

Alpine

Idyll a

Clean

Well

Lighted

Place

Cat in the

Rain I landed in

Frankfurt my older

Brother was not there to

Greet me but I had his

Address so I hailed a

Cab and felt like a

Man for maybe the

First time in my

Life I was

Fifteen my

Brother

Eleven years

Older he the

Oldest

Me the

Youngest of

Six

Boys asked me how

Old are you

Kid

Eighteen I told him he

Nodded the

Older

Bro barely knew I

Existed off to

Prep

School before I started

Grade school but here I

Stood at his

Threshold what are you

Lookin to do

Dude where you

Lookin to go

Paris I told him and

Switzerland by

Train he bought me a

Eurail

Pass and off I went no

Smarter than a

Golden

Retriever but not

Afraid to ask

Questions or

Sound

Stupid or

Risk it all

Everywhere I went I

Smiled and

Doors

Swung

Open and the

World offered its

Welcome the

Basilica of the

Sacré

Coeur the

Champs

Élysées the

Swiss sky

Deep blue over the

Matterhorn a

Beautiful

Young

Waitress with a

Gap toothed

Smile when I asked in bad

German for

Eier und

Wurst my

Brother living in

Germany serving in the

US

Army serving as a

Medic in a

US

Army

Hospital on the

Psych ward filled with

US

Soldiers all freaked out from

Booze and

Drugs and

War and

Death in

Southeast

Asia my

Brother had not wanted to serve in the

Army in the

Armed Services he was a

CO

Conscientious

Objector but they had

Drafted him anyway and made him

Watch over the

Kooks and

Crazies the

Drunks and

Drug

Addicts the

Broken

Ones with

Wounds of the

Body and

Head and

Heart he took me to a

German

Brothel when I got back from my

Swiss

Eye opening

Sojourn and

Paid for me to take another

Step toward

Manhood I still remember that

Skinny

Fraulein

Legs as long as the

Eiffel

Tower long straight

Bleach

Blond hair

Crooked teeth not much

Older than me but

Wiser I guess more

Worldly she had me

Serviced practically before I had my

Knickers down around my

Ankles my lance

Corporal brother

Laughed and

Laughed at the

Brevity of my

Entanglement and

Bought me my first

Beer we ate fat

Bratwurst and salty

Sauerkraut at an outdoor

Café on

Berger

Strasse and he asked me how

Old are you

Really

Dude and in the

Morning we took the train to

Munich to the

Summer

Olympics where we watched

Pole

Vaulters

Sprinters and

Shot

Putters

Divers

Backstrokers and

Butterfliers

Compete and then we met up with my

Brother’s

Army

Buddies and drank tall

Steins of

Golden

Pilsner and

Talked about how

Men and

Countries should settle their

Differences through

Debate and

Arm

Wrestling and other

Athletic

Competitions rather than through

Idiotic

Blood

Sucking

Wars

Like

Vietnam

War my

Brother

Opined

Marijuana

Cigarette dangling between

Thumb and

Index finger

Smoke billowing from his

Nose and

Mouth is so

Fucking

Stupid so fucking

Uncivilized the

Attack occurred the next

Day when the

Black September

Terrorists from

Palestine

Massacred the

Weightlifters

Wrestlers and

Fencers from

Israel who had come in

Peace to

Compete and

Meet other

Athletes from

America and

Britain

Canada and

Denmark

Estonia and

Finland

Civilization stripped

Bare

Savaged right

Down to the

Bone

Paradise

Lost

Innocence and my

Youth

Shattered

Fidel the

Handsome

Charismatic

Cuban

Dictator

Died

Today I thought he

Died

Years ago

Funny when

People you thought were

Dead

Die some

People say nice things about

Fidel he

Freed the

Peasants

Educated the

Cuban

People gave them

Cradle to

Grave

Health

Care others say

Fidel was just another of your

Run of the

Mill

Hell-bent for

Leather

Despots

Jailing

Torturing

Murdering

Folks who made fun of his

Beard and

Called him a lot of

Phony

Baloney I know some

People say nice things about

Me even while others

Claim I’m a real

Horse’s

Ass but hey it’s nice to be

Considered

Either

Way

Indifference and

Anonymity such

Drags I received

News of

Fidel’s

Death on my i

Phone while sitting in the

Pediatrician’s

Waiting room with my

Eldest daughter who was

Feeling less than

Fabulous she

Loves to feel

Fabulous all the

Time every

Minute of every

Day anything

Less than

Fabulous

Dissolves quickly into

Crisis and so we sat in the

Waiting room with

Tummy

Ache

Headache maybe a little

Heart

Ache and quite possibly a didn’t

Study for my

French

Test so don’t really want to go to

School

Ache

Fidel

Castro

Died I tell her

Who

She asks the

Cuban

Revolutionary I

Explain

Compatriot of

Che

Avowed

Marxist

Committed to making all

Humans

100%

Equal can you

Imagine such

Tripe never heard of him

She says lots of

Cubans I counter probably

Wish they’d never

Heard of him either

Elizabeth calls the

Nurse an attractive

Hispanic girl

Standing in the doorway in

Blue

Scrubs and

White

Sneakers she steers us to the

Exam room with the

Cat in the

Hat

Motif the

Cool laidback

Doc with the

Eastern

European accent and

Classic handlebar

Mustache the

Doc my

Wife likes best of the four

Docs in the practice maybe she

Dreams of

Bedding him while he

Whispers in her ear in

Hungarian or

Albanian or whatever

Slovak

Language he speaks hey I

Dream too

Dreams make

Reality

Bearable

Handlebar does the

Exam

Throat

Nose

Ears

Chest while asking how are we

Feeling today not so

Great says I

Ok says

Elizabeth she’s always telling

Mom and me she doesn’t

Feel good not like she

Used to

Feel when she was a

Kid

Nothing of course but

Anxiety as she

Moves

Slowly

Exhaustedly

Reluctantly

Inevitably from

Kidhood to

Adulthood no easy

Chore

Anymore being a

Fourteen

Year

Old they

Know too much

Understand too little all that

Relentless crapola

Unfiltered on their

Electronic devices

Hell I’m glad I didn’t have to be

Bombarded with all that

Horse

Shit well says the

Doc stroking his

Handle

Bar

Throat’s clear

Nose clear

Chest sounds

Clear no

Temperature

Cheer I give her the all

Clear can she go to

School the old

Man asks handle

Bar looks at Elizabeth

Looks at me gives another

Stroke to that luxurious

Moustache says it’s a

Beautiful

Autumn

Day

Sun

Shine

Warm

Air a

Father and

Daughter now it’s just my

Professional opinion but I

Think

Elizabeth would be better off having a

Long walk and a

Casual

Easy going

Talk about this that and

Nothing at all over a

Long lunch in a

Snazzy restaurant with her

Dad today instead of

Sitting in some stuffy old

Class

Room

Learning next to

Nothing about

Geography

Chemistry for whom the

Bell

Tolls

Daydreaming all that

Stuff will still be there

Tomorrow

Elizabeth

Smiles big and my

Old paternal heart goes

Pitter

Patter on the way out the

Door I say to the

Doc

No idea why

Fidel

Died today

Fidel died

He asks I

Nod he

Pauses

Reflects then says I

Lived in

Cuba

Coo-ba not

Q-ba

After I got out of

Medical university in

Sofia I did a

Residency in

Havana on a

Pediatric unit

Castro used to visit

Walk the wards stop and

Squeeze the

Shoulders of the

Sick

Children

Bend down take their

Little

Hands in his giant

Hand the size of a

Catcher’s

Glove and tell them his

Dark eyes as big and

Round as full

Moons

La vida es una lucha

Life is a struggle

If you want to

Survive if you want to make a

Difference

You must

Fight

Fidel would tell them

You must

Fight with all your

Might and with all your

Heart and with all your

Life

Fidel would lean in

Close and

Whisper you must

Fight for what you

Believe

Hasta el momento de la muerte

Until the

Moment of

Death