The Bench, 1973
Sergeant Brooks,
maybe five foot three or four
with immense forearms like Popeye
and a wire brush moustache,
was transferred to mess hall duty
in Göppingen after Vietnam.
Too kill-crazy, looking for enemies
around corners.
On a training maneuver
in one of those freezing German woods,
tired as hell, trying to eat lunch
in pouring rain, Brooks shoots
the shit with his mess team.
After a firefight you get hungry,
(the thousand-yard stare
in his eyes) I couldn’t find
no dry place to sit down
and eat my lunch. All around me
rice paddies. So I started gathering up
bodies, putting them in a pile
until it was large enough
so I could sit
on top and eat my "C" rations
with my feet out of the water.