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A Night In January 1991

 

You found an abandoned notepad,

and inside, a poem penned by

you titled ‘The New Crusade’.

 

It is dated 17th January 1991,

the night ‘Gulf War One’

exploded live via CNN.

 

Memories of the evening return:

the glee of your father’s fantasy

of the restoration of conscription;

 

his vision of you marching Arabian

lands bedecked in Desert DPM

and rifle. Your mother, heckling,

 

revealing his TB-fakery to dodge

the Korean call-up in a conspiracy

of flu, gin, and a bung to a ‘bent’ GP.

 

Your brother, allowed to stay up

late to enjoy the show, jerking

his Game Boy as if conducting

 

the bombing on screen, while BBC

news anchors praised the accuracy

of B-52s blasting their targets. 

 

 

Michael Wyndham © 2022