"Kharkiv 3"

by Anthony Roberts

It’s impossible to write poems with incoming overhead
it’s impossible to write poems while burying your dead 
it’s impossible to write poems while protecting one another 
it’s impossible to write poems when you’re crawling seeking cover 
It’s impossible to write poems when standing watch at night 
it’s impossible to write poems when you’re setting the Molotov alight 
it’s impossible to write poems when the rounds are buzzing by
it’s impossible to write poems when you’re trying not to die 
it’s impossible to write poems when your weapon must be cleaned
it’s impossible to write poems when you’re feeding the machine 
it’s impossible to write poems when you’re inhaling a meal
it’s impossible to write poems when you don’t have time to feel 
it’s impossible to write poems when the mission fills your head 
so hand them to your brethren and we will write them in your stead

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Anthony Roberts is a veteran of Baltimore and Afghanistan. He currently lives in New Jersey in a home with beautiful views and interlocking fields of fire.

Listen to our Savage Wonder episode with him here.

He is the author of the Pushcart Prize-nominated Pigtown and The Clearing Barrel.

You can follow him here.

You can see Anthony Roberts live at the Savage Wonder Festival of veterans in the arts on May 29! Have you gotten your tickets yet? Tickets are only FREE until April 1.

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If you give monkeys enough time, can they really write Hamlet? How did Leon Trotsky actually react to finding an axe embedded in his head? What does it take for two strangers to fall in love without screwing it up? Are you having a bad day or are you simply stuck in a "Philadelphia"? The VetRep 2022 season of staged readings kicks off with an evening of fast and funny staged readings featuring the whimsical comedy of David Ives.

Get your Pay What You Can tickets here quickly - remember only 16 seats per performance!