what is that fluttering
on the flag pole?

pink panties

I am saluting
don't ask me why
just blow the bugle

it was a very beautiful spring day
I was sitting at the top of a Korean mountain
smoking a cigarette
thinking about nothing
indifferent to my exposure
to the enemy observers
with telescopes and binoculars
their eager searching eyes

I was tired
I needed to feel the sun light
to smell the air
to see the sky and the clouds
to gaze over waves of the mountain range
to be at peace
with whomever or whatever

the enemy decided to fire mortars
screaming shells came flying over my head
and blew up in the valley below
the maddening echo of an insane commotion
in such a tranquil day

I finished smoking and watched the show
the futile fury of bombardment
the meaningless sound of explosion
the diligence of inept mortar men
the determination of cross-eyed observers

later I was told in seriousness
they managed to fire three hundred rounds
what was the target and why so many?
I never asked
the enemy fired mortars
that was their problem and not mine
they had a job to do
I had none