I have lived between wars

arnoldo garcía

I have lived between wars
all my life
between the Korean War
between the Vietnam War
between the Cold War
between the covert wars
between COINTELPRO
between Indian Wars
between Middle East Wars
between Bosnian Wars
between Israeli wars
between Holy Wars

between field wars & nuclear silos
between Lebanon wars
between Che’s wars
between Central American wars
Nicaragua El Salvador Guatemala
between Zapatista wars
and rain forest revolutions
between the war on drugs
the war on poverty
and the war on terrorism
between Cuban revolutionary wars
between border wars and unarmed migrants
bewteen war and occupation of Iraq
between war preparations
to invade Cuba Grenada Panama
Chile Nicaragua Dominican Republic
Venezuela Iran North Korea
Tenochtitlán Tamaulipas

I live between wars
remembering how bombs explode twice
once in Beirut
once in New York
once in Baghdad
once in East Oakland
once everywhere
the second time at home
remembering how soldiers die twice
or live once with shrapnel
bleeding dead their imagination our indignation
remembering our war dead
never die, our war dead
(not the nation’s, not the President’s Armies)
what war do you live between?