GHOST WARS by Vince Gotera
Cedar Falls, IA: Final Thursday Press, 2003

Sniper, 2002
after Louise Glück's "Siren"

I become a god when I squeeze it off.
I was . . . before that, I was . . .

I don't know what it was
I was. I wanted to marry.
I wanted to ride in a long black hearse.
I wanted my fifteen minutes . . . forever.

I wanted to be a child again, to squash lines of ants.
I am a 30-caliber flyswatter.
I am the clean-up hitter.
                                       Does a good person think like
I do? I do. I don't care what you think.
I am. I am. I am.

I have been a god before. In the Gulf War,
I was Superman with an M-16 and a sniperscope.
I could see miles and miles like a desert raptor.
I wore black smoke from oil fires like a cape.

I will tell you my dream. Last night
I dreamt I was in a jail cell. In the dream,
I am white light. Iron bars melt. Walls crumble.
I stand among ruins wearing a crown of spines. Though

I walk in the valley of shadow,
I shall fear no evil, for I am the Golden Calf.
I am gathering my twelve apostles. Join me.

I see you. I see you.

I squeeze off another round.

© Vince Gotera