SEMPER FI

             Semper fidelis  he wondered if the driver knew the Latin

he looked at slivers of drivers facehis eyes butch haircut clean shaven puss his . . well . . for lack of a less accusatory description . . his smirking radiant white conservatism through the sideview mirror and an elongated rearview mirror which was beyond a diaphanous transparency that spanned the entire back window of the Ford SUPER DUTY pickup

SEMPER FI in khaki green was the transparency

the trucks paint job was unscathed a pristine shiny black

it wasnt a work truck 

and not being a work truck 

it must have been a fashion statementCHRIST

SEMPER FI 

             maybe once they were a Marine

they werent anymore

he was an athlete once

he wasnt anymore

he wondered as he made his lefthand turn behind him the driver seemed intent on him what exactly the pose was about

he saw it often among exmilitary

some kind of latent bravado

desperate to hold onto a bygone long-time-ago time

he might suppose the handgun in the Fords glovebox helped foster it

he supposed

              because he kept a Ka-Bar in his glovebox

he never served

he couldnt stomach anyone telling him what to do let alone doing whatever was demanded without question 

that takes a certain kind of mentality or diminished capacity he wasnt capable of

SEMPER FI continued straight onto the highway overpass eyeballing him the whole time until he turned right onto the entrance ramp

creep gave him the heebie-jeebies  

2021,  Thursday,  24  10. 19

1329,  Monday,  23  3. 20

The Original Caste  One Tin Soldier  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGY9k5PeoQA