SAD MAN'S WAR SONG

my grandfather's brother
drinks lysol
he calls it champagne

he told me once
how he was liberated
from a concentration camp

"america is the land of the free"
he says as he punches the hole in the can

i love watching the anger
burn
in his eyes
when i tell him
america liberated us
from our land our culture our religion our language

"ah but we were only savages"
he says as he sucks the can
"we were only savages"

my grandfather's brother
drinks lysol
he calls it champagne

he decomposes
on the land that america gave him
after he was moved from the land that was his

he tells me
how he was liberated
from a concentration camp

he shows me the purple heart
rubbed smooth gold and glossy
by his index finger

i hate watching the anger
burn
in his eyes
as he punches the hole in the can
and says
"america is the land of the free
but at least the nazis sometimes gave us schnapps"