by Bruce Miller
I was on my way to Junior College to meet my future wife
and learn how to live on my own.
Then, my dad lost his job.
The recruiter offered me a way to pay for college.
He never mentioned the fact that they
would teach me the most efficient way to kill people.
People I had never met,
people I had no beef with.
I must’ve been good at it,
They kept giving me awards for it,
doubled my salary.
That lasted six years,
by that time most of my friends had earned a degree,
started a family ,bought some land or learned a trade.
Two weeks before my honorable discharge
they again offered to double my pay
to teach other young men who had no money for college
how to kill people they had never met
people they had no beef with.
According to them I had
perfected the art of killing strangers.
So now I’m your neighbor,
trying to unlearn all that I have learned,
unteach all that I have taught.
I casually glance at your neck
while you scream at me about the
color scheme of my Christmas lights
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