War All The Time

War All The Time


Crazy Horse comes back from Vietnam
straight into the Breakaway Bar,
sits down at the same table
he was sitting at two years earlier
when he received his draft notice.

Crazy Horse asks the Bartender for a beer
free, because he's some color of a hero
although he doesn't know if it's red or white
because there are no mirrors in the bush,
only eyes tracing paths through the air,

eyes tearing into the chest, searching
for the heart. Crazy Horse sells his medals
when he goes broke, buys a dozen beers
and drinks them all, tells the Bartender
he's short on time all the time now,

measuring it leaning out car windows,
shattering beer bottles off road signs,
and when the Bartender asks him why
he's giving up everything he earned,
Crazy Horse tells him you can't stop a man
from trying to survive, no matter where he is.


Sherman Alexie..........from The Business of Fancydancing