returning to the world
Stefan Lovasik


                                                                                for James M. Desmone and the brothers
                                                                                             of Charlie Co., Air Cavalry 1st of the 12th

                                                                                      

returning to the world in ‘72
jim and i walked the narragansett beach
trying to feel the clams with our toes
trying to feel

back at the house friends rolled hundreds of joints
in multi-colored papers
trying to forget the distance
our long stare

we just wanted the clams and much more beer
but the smell of the clams
brought the bloating bodies in the red paddies
into a clear focus

the bark of orders to execute the young small men
at close range
blood spatter
bits of brain that shot backwards onto the lips
that shot all the way back to narragansett
then in the long seconds 

we fell into the sand as if we were praying
for the waves the tide to bring us something good and just
it never did
only the smell remains

About the author:
Stefan Lovasik is a musician, veteran of the U.S. Army and has been a poet since the late 1960's. He was the co-founder, editor/contributor of FRAMEWORKS, a literary journal from 1972 to 1974, published by the University of Pittsburgh. His older work has appeared in Ferrous Oxide, the Atlantic and the Commons. His most recent poems have appeared in the Main Street Rag, City Paper and Meat for Tea: the Valley Review. He lives just outside of Pittsburgh, Pa. with his wife Cynthia.