WAR FEVER
Freshman year, Pennsylvania Military College (1963)

I coldcock him in the mouth,
send his choppers flying,
stomp his chest until black bile
bubbles out of his ears and nostrils.
No, I didn’t do this. But I wanted to,
one morning, after an upperclassman,
in front of a crowd of students,
twists my name into female genitalia,
calls my mom a floozy, restricts me
to my room for a week, all because
he doesn’t like the curvature
of my lower lip when I chant
Sir, good morning, Sir!