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Morning
for Roger
Roger
liked to play guitar,
but
he couldn't play very well
so
he sometimes hung around the few of us
who
thought we could teach him something.
We
couldn't.
It
wasn't that he was incapable.
We
just sucked.
Roger
liked to laugh
and
always had a joke to tell
while
making his rounds
as
the Auxiliary Electrician,
as
they like to say in the Navy,
when
a guy is non-nuclear trained,
but
is an electrician.
Roger
liked to play Hearts
and
used to deal the cards
to
the early hours of the morning,
though
morning is just a figment of your imagination
when
you ride a submarine for a living.
Roger
was never pretentious
even
though he was his group's Leading Petty Officer,
as
they like to say in the Navy,
when
a guy is a supervisor.
He
just lived his life
and
laughed his laugh
and
everyone enjoyed his company.
Roger
was out on the town one night,
laughing
his laugh and enjoying life,
and
decided to go across the street
with
the rest of his buddies
and
subordinates,
as
they like to say in the Navy,
when
a guy hangs out with friends
who
happen to have a lesser rank than him.
Roger
never saw the headlights of the car
as
he was crossing the road
in
the small Georgia town of Kings Bay
where
the USS Casimir Pulaski
was
docked for refit,
as
they like to say in the Navy,
when
a guy works with his friends
to
make a submarine ready
to
destroy the world.
Roger
died there in the street.
Then
the sun came up the next morning,
though
mourning is just a figment of your imagination
when
you ride a submarine for a living.
Copyright Greg Weaver 2000
P.S. Please feel
free to use it on your web site"
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