veteran’s day
the japanese have a word for disused paper moon
which we translate sunrise which my grandfather brought back
from the war and used with such disdain
the way some families reminisce at picnics during the volleyball game
mine has quieter anecdotes
did you ever see him
stand in the den before sunrise with his pistol
not pointed at anything
remember when he brought home a puppy
then locked himself in the bedroom
plenty of people other than me found him in tears
at the kitchen table mumbling about boys
who take entire grown men away
he used to say you can’t hate anything
you don’t really love and i wonder
whether there is one word for that
Steve Barichko is from Terryville, CT. His work has most recently appeared in the Aurora spring anthology. He is a 2020 Pushcart Prize nominee. Find him on Insta and Twitter @stevebarichko.