My Father's Knife
By Richard Bodien
was never used for much,
really, we weren’t the type
to hunt animals
or hurt people
although he bombed
hundreds or thousands
or hundreds of thousands
behind the Front in Europe
and was smuggled
out alive
it’s difficult to know
who, how many
or where
it’s a pen knife
a small blade
with a bone
covered
handle
it isn’t sharp anymore
I use it for this and that
mostly cleaning pipes
to make way
for another
hit
