"Right of Bang (What Love Also Is)"
By Amy Sexauer
What would be different
If I had been with you
That day
I still got your blood on my hands
Inventorying the bag full of shredded gear
We still hosed down the trucks
I still stacked up chow plates for everyone
Wrote reports
Signed statements
Held everyone’s grief
And shared memories
I still called your Wife
And met your Mother
I still signed my name for yours
Over and over again
To clear you from base
I still recommended the medic for his medal
And held our team together
I know something is missing
But I don’t know what I don’t know
I didn’t pull the trigger
Or tighten the tourniquet
But I was always there
Amy Sexauer is a poet and author of Poppies published by Dead Reckoning Collective, from which this poem was taken. She is a West Point graduate who spent nine years on active duty in Military Police and Psychological Operations units. She is currently in the Army Reserves. You can listen to our Savage Wonder episode with her here. Follow her here.
This week on the Savage Wonder Podcast…
As the Producing Director at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Jon Jory directed over 125 plays and produced over 1,000 during his 32-year tenure. He conceived the internationally lauded Humana Festival of New American Plays, the SHORTS Festival, and the Brown-Forman Classics-in-Context Festival. He was also the Artistic Founding Director of Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, and he has been inducted in New York's Theatre Hall of Fame.
Mr. Jory has directed professionally in nine nations, and in the United States has directed productions at many regional theatres including Washington's Arena Stage, San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre, Hartford Stage, the McCarter in Princeton, Guthrie Theatre, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He has received the National Theatre Conference Award and ATA Distinguished Career Award. For his commitment to new plays, he has received the Margo Jones Award twice, the Shubert Foundation's James N. Vaughan Memorial Award for Exceptional Achievement and Contribution to the Development of Professional Theatre, Carnegie Mellon's Commitment to Playwriting Award, and the Special Tony Award for Achievement in Regional Theatre. He currently teaches acting and directing at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design.
Folks - this is the show you’ve been waiting all season to see.
Starting this Saturday night, we launch The 39 Steps, a parody of the 1935 film by Alfred Hitchcock. This play includes all the suspense of a civilian becoming mistakenly caught up in a spy ring, but with the hilarity of 4 actors taking on all 150 parts —sometimes even simultaneously — all while inserting references and puns to several famous Hitchcock films. Winner of the 2008 Tony for Best Play, the Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience, and the 2007 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy.
It’s a great show, but we’re making it even more special. How do you pull off train scenes, car chases, fights, and jumping off a bridge when you’re doing a staged reading in a parlor? SOUND EFFECTS. That’s right, we’re introducing all LIVE sound effects - it’s the kind of variety act experience you just can’t get anywhere else. You don’t want to miss this.
As always, you’re welcome to show up and hope for a cancellation. But if you really want to see the show, why not book now and save yourself the uncertainty?