John J. Dunphy

Poetry

 

 

foreclosed farm auction
the successful bidder
wears a suit

 

 

 

They Loved Him In Branson

My neighbor joined the Marines at 19 and was sent to Vietnam
as a .50-caliber machine gun man.

He followed every order –

even when told to kill unarmed villagers,

including women and children,

who were lined up in long rows

to make greasing them that much easier.

Forty-seven years later, he still has nightmares.

A neighbor told him that entertainers in Branson
ask all veterans in the audience to stand up
for a round of applause.
He went there for a weekend, took in lots of shows
and always stood up to be honored.
After one performance, he walked up to the stage
and told the singer what he had done in Vietnam.
My neighbor asked her if she still thought he deserved applause
and then walked away.
He was half-way down the aisle
when he heard her start to cry. 
 

 

February thaw
names reappear
on the war memorial

 

woodland walk
my friend signs
she felt a tree fall

 

 

 

Varieties of PC

I was five or six when I learned
PC stands for personal computer.
In high school I learned that PC
also stands for politically correct
and means you should say
developmentally challenged
rather than mentally retarded and
people with disabilities
rather than the handicapped.

I was putting myself through
community college by selling pot
when a new customer turned out to be
an undercover cop.
I was raped during my second week in prison.
When the prison hospital released me,
I was placed in protective custody,
which is also abbreviated as PC.
Basically, it’s a unit where guys like me
are locked up so the other inmates can’t get to us.

Yesterday, a trusty told me everybody jokes

PC really stands for Punk City.

When I’m released, no more PC.
If I need a computer, I’ll buy a Mac.
 

 

Route 66
the derelict cafe's ceiling fan
spun by the wind

 

 

 

John J. Dunphy is the author of "Stellar Possibilities," "Dark Nebulae," "Touching Each Tree" and many other works of poetry. His prose titles include "From Christmas to Twelfth Night in Southern Illinois" and "Abolitionism and the Civil War in Southwestern Illinois."  He can be found in cyberspace at John J. Dunphy - Author and Poet If you feel up to the challenge of encountering John in the flesh, he owns The Second Reading Book Shop in Alton, IL.