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by Michael McAndrew

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The Long Gray Lie
Was how I thought
Of one of my first jobs
After I got out of the military

I counseled kids
At a military
Boarding school

Handed them tissues
As they cried in my office

Good boys bad boys

Most of them
Already thought their fates were written

Destined to attended service academies
Or ROTC
Back into the machine I walked out of

As they wound back
Across the street to school
I couldn’t help but think
No one leads a charming life