my father died in 1968
he was 49 I was 19
18 years later my
mother moved to Florida
I got all his stuff
I found a plaque, a commendation
from some Secretary of the Navy
thanking my father for helping build
the Poseidon Missile
& for
"keeping the seas free from communism"
he was always part of
what Ike called
"The Military Industrial Complex"
graduated high school at 16
3rd in his class
went to Rensselear Polytech
worked for a company
that analyzed foreign weapons
to find out what factory they came from
then on to Ohio State
Battelle Memorial Institute
story is
he saw some documents
on a prof's desk
sd "Is this a thorium bomb?"
next day
he was at a Navy recruiters
Some Marine MPs
grabbed him sd
"You just joined the Marines!"
but no
they shipped him to Oak Ridge, Tennessee
to build the trigger
for the atomic bomb
a sea of mud
planks connecting wooden buildings
every Friday the hill jacks
would come out of the woods
to sell moonshine whiskey ...
war over
Japan flash burned w/atomic fire
gearing up
for the next struggle
he returned to Columbus
to finish school
marry my mother
moved to Cleveland
Director of Research
Brush Beryllium
now Brush-Wellman
founding member
American Metallurgical Society
then Vice President
Research & Development
we moved up
from Euclid
to South Euclid
to Shaker Heights
lectures at Stanford & Alfred
trips to India, Japan
Australia
England & France
months at a time
in California
he seldom took us
never overseas
I left to my insane mother
her doctors & drugs
her dreams of plotting neighbors
6' 5" over 300 lbs
he looked like Diego Rivera
he had me cowed
fearful of his screaming rages
I learned to hide
to become invisible
when I was 13
he had returned from France
my great grandmother was French
I was to learn French
I didn't want to learn French
had grown a backbone
a struggle ensued
ending in me huddled in a corner
him towering over
kicking me
I looked up
saw him finally
for the pathetic excuse he was
for a man
I knew I could take him
but did nothing
had to do nothing cause he saw my look
left me alone
I never did learn
a foreign language
the seas are free now
fish consider schooling
a socialist aberration
they cherish their freedom
free to drive the same shaggy fishmobile
toss trash from the Convenient Tuna
out their windows
shop at FishMart or Scales
yet they've become insular & anxious
more & more to purchase
working ever harder
to keep being free
they talk about it on their
cell fish phones
how difficult it is
in the greatest ocean
ever
& how they must gear up
for the next struggle
