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      April 7, 2017A Memory on the Eve of the Return of the U.S. Military to Subic BayPatrick Rosal

      Every day        in America
             I am trying                 to be taken
      seriously
                                  When
             the United States               last
      owned               the naval base       at Subic Bay
      my uncle        (my father’s        distant
                cousin)     was a colonel     in charge
                            of Philippine forces       under
                    Marcos      On our first      and only
      visit                to  the Philippines
             my brother        (maybe        eight)
      and I        (thirteen?)        were left
      alone        in my uncle’s        house
             with one        of my uncle’s
      guards        and my uncle’s        grandson—
      a boy                maybe   five And
      when the guard        dashed out
      to eat lunch        he left     the front door
                             open
      and the five-year-old        with us
                           The sentry
      had slid        his gun        under a small table
      beside the door                   And the boy
                who spoke        no English
      picked up        the automatic        and
                 pointed the rifle      at my chest
      then
                 my brother’s
                                          head
               The boy
                             was smiling
      It must have been              funny
                 on the other        side
      of the gun               I couldn’t        simply stroll
                 my little brother       past the barrel
         to the door        where it was        a bright
             blue day           I couldn’t see
      the safety        from where        I was standing
                                  So I said
      Put that        down        I’m serious 
             and the boy        laughed
      I said Put it        down    It’s not        a joke 
                  and the boy        laughed
                  some more        He laughed
      in the colonel’s     language       and
      he laughed       in mine      as if we all
      understood       the laughter     I’m serious
                        Sometimes
      I think there
                           are two countries
                                                       one
      on either side        of a gun There
      are guns        at the borders        but
      that’s how        borders        are made
      They        are made        of guns
                    I’m
                                  serious

      from #54 - Winter 2016

      Patrick Rosal

      “I think I’d like to say that this poem is curious to me. It mystifies me. I am five different people in this poem, standing in five different places. I’m refracted and multiplied. Some of me is even absent. If I had my way, I’d be the door.”