I lapped up good words like a cat laps milk
my mother showed my first hodge-podge poem
a pudding to patriotism
sugar in my veins
cooking up images of pluck and daring
I ran off to the army
slicked my creases bloused my pants
preened like a khaki cat
but ears were fractured
and sobs erupted from my distraught breast
I stood near the governor on election night
cavorting with the stars in a flashy heaven
knowing everything understanding little
officials came and the allure went
faces blurred and the heavens were spent
I recognized what I really was
what I might have really been.