Heart of Courage
By Cherbo Geeplay
This, to the commanding officer
who led his troops to war, on one
knee and won in the trenches
on the battlefield littered with
landmines. I held your portrait
sir, this morning with trembling
palms, dressed sharply in your
uniform, gleaming boots fastened
to your feet. I talk this over with
my son: who is this Kaepernick,
he asked, so I dropped the topic.
Thought, he was too young to
understand warfare and the men
who wage them. My honor to know
a soldier of your heroism seized me,
tells me, wars can be won without
people being shot, just, by asking,
why? Volley of bullets wouldn’t
have to penetrate the bodies of
men, but can prick the hollow
apostates of partisan whiff
on a day conscience won,
sparking a revolution
across the sub-continent.
I fete you dear
commanding
officer, for your stealth.
II
The certificates of your citizenship
have been studied and assumed
worthy, even by the enemy you
defeated. The questions have
been asked on the battlefront and
at headquarters by field officers and
generals alike, barred by their superiors
from whispering your name.
Probing: what does he want, who is
this man? But on the subway, morning
and evening trains commuters whisper
your muddled name still. Holding you in
their hearts like mothers hold their babies.
I have slogged the asphalts of long
memory dedicated to soldiers of your
tradition, like a madman looking through
the relics reserved for your kind, searching
for your badge, and yes, there it is. It hangs
right next to, Owens.
III
Surprised, then yesterday my son
came home. A basketball hikes
under his arm, giving me a long
winded look like hot knife ready
to melt a lard, then he knelt on
his right knee, saying nothing,
got up, and went to his room,
tears in his eyes. I noticed also,
he had began an afro. He discovered
you on his own.The salt in his eyes,
that welled up his tears, I report have
since been washed away. Today, he is
bolder like the bull that charges, but
calm like these ocean waves once in
revolt. Oh Col., so he did come to
know you after all, as I wished,
because underneath that fine
uniform draped in medals beats
the heart of courage in steel.
_______
Copyright ©? 2019, Rigorous Literary New Orleans
This poem was previously published under the title 'Col. Kaepernick.'
Copyright ©
Cherbo Geeplay
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