by Carlin Corsino

(“An IED Blast Survivor Runs a 10K Race” mobile version)

The day I met you  
     was the story about
            mechanical legs falling off
                 in a ditch on a 10k race
                        covered in excrement
                             by the roadside

blast
     years before left
            incapable of running alone
                  across the line to which
                        you crawled even after
                              leftover medals

found homes
            in the trash and littered
                        confetti stuck to your mess
                                    tar feathers
                                                in the machinery
                                                            intended to preserve

life had failed you
            now lying in the sand
                           Sun burning down
                                                yelling or laughing
                                                                        even to be
                                                                                      heard faintly

across the desert
                            something pooled
                                                            unaware hands
                                                                                         pulling, finish
                                                                                                                    line evaporates
                                   
                                    100 meters away.

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Carlin Corsino is a retired Army physician. The great privilege of his Army career was training medics. This is a poem about the man who inspired him to set off on that path. 

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