Chicano Eddie Poet Free verse

Unit 47

“UNIT 47”



today I woke up in Riverside               
and took a drive to San 
Diego. there I met a man 
named Joe. he’d taken me out 
to eat ribs. I finished what 
I could of the food but the 
rest I took home. we soon 
found ourselves on the pier 
of the Imperial Beach. 
we talked about the pigeons,
the seagulls and the water 
itself. from our benches, we 
could see Mexico and it’s 
border. as we drank our 
beers, I asked him about his 
days in the Navy. he told me 
after boot camp, he went to 
submarine school. after he 
finished, it was time to put 
his training to use in the 
water. he’d drop into the sea
by day and surface at night. 
he spied on the Russians he 
said, and went from port to 
port traveling the world. the 
year was 1952 and he was 
eighteen. his service was 
over in 1956. on one of his 
port visits, he and three 
naval buddies hit a tattoo 
shop. they all got Thumper 
from Bambi. the price was 
only $2. I asked him if he’d 
ever trade those days for 
anything in the world and he 
said no, it was the most fun 
he had ever had. 

on the way back, Joe 
remembered he had left his 
air conditioner on. He 
laughed with a careless fear. 
“My house is gonna be frozen 
when I get back!” we arrived 
and in we went. the house 
wasn’t frozen but the spy was 
happy to be home. I stood 
proud of my day, spending 
time with a war veteran who 
had gotten a $2 Thumper 
tattoo when he was a kid. 
before I walked away, I
shook his hand, thanked him 
and gave him a hug goodbye. I 
was happy the man from the 
Cold War wasn’t frozen. 
the unit Joe lives in is 
specifically marked and it’s 
number is 47.



By: Chicano Eddie
8-31-2016

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