God Bless Our Troops
by Barry Harris
God bless our
troops
especially the
snipers
who, eye at the
scope, scan
a man hanging
in the cross
hairs, perhaps
the enemy,
a man who can
be dead
a thousand
yards away
one second
after God
blesses the
trigger.
God bless our
troops,
especially the
drone controllers
sitting in
cubicles
underneath a
Nevada desert,
firing a missile
a continent away
at a band of
terrorists
or a wedding
party.
Small decisions
make a terrible difference,
true spooky
action at a distance.
Bio: Barry
Harris is editor of the Tipton Poetry Journal and has published one poetry
collection, Something At The Center.
Barry lives in Brownsburg, Indiana and is retired from Eli Lilly and Company. A
graduate of Ball State University with a major in English, Barry was founding
editor of Tipton Poetry Journal, which has been published in print and online
versions since 2004. In 2009, he helped found Brick Street Poetry, Inc., a
non-profit organization which now publishes Tipton Poetry Journal, hosts Poetry
on Brick Street, and sponsors poetry-related events. His poetry has appeared or
is forthcoming in Saint Ann’s Review, Grey Sparrow Journal, Silk Road Review,
Kentucky Review, Valparaiso Poetry Review, Silver Birch Press, Boston Literary
Magazine, Night Train, Hiss Quarterly, Cherry Blossom Review, Flying Island,
Lily, The Centrifugal Eye, Redheaded Stepchild, Flutter, Wheelhouse Magazine,
Houston Literary Review, Snow Monkey and Writers’ Bloc; and in these anthologies:
MOTIF 3: Work, Twin Muses: Art and Poetry
and From the Edge of the Prairie.