"Kharkov"

by Anthony Roberts

an old man who rolled with Patton
sitting on my grandfather’s porch
always talked about tank battles
long into the night
had model tanks in his dining room
I was not allowed to touch them
or the frame on the wall
that held Tech Sergeant Stripes
3 bronze stars (all with Vs)
4 Purple Hearts
the World War 2 Victory Medal
the busted duck

He held the models with care
(I didn’t know he’d built them)
compared them
Shermans
Tigers
Panthers
the T-34
he spoke with admiration
of the simplicity of the Christie chassis
talked about Kursk and Kharkov

“That must have been a hell of a fight watching the Russians blow the shit out of those Nazi fuc-“

-a stern look from his wife, I was only 9 after all-

“Anyway, those were tank battles, nothing like what I saw”

I thought he’d seen it all
the medals said so
for him to be awed
Kursk and Kharkov
they became places
enshrined in my mind
battlefields like Gettysburg
where once ended
there would be no further fight
the ground could hold no more
blood
oil
hydraulic fluid
tungsten
iron
copper
steel
humanity

Until today
when I heard the news
tanks fighting in Kharkov

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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.

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Learn more about the Veterans Repertory Theater here.