The Bullet that Killed Wesley by Jimmy Pappas

 

The bullet that killed Wesley
struck me in the helmet
right between the eyes,
went around my headgear,
out over my shoulder,
hit Wesley in the neck,
and killed him.
Now don’t that beat all fuck.

 

____________

 

Jimmy Pappas served for the Air Force during the Vietnam War as an English language instructor training South Vietnamese soldiers. Jimmy received a Bachelor’s of Arts degree from Bridgewater State University and a Master’s in English literature from Rivier University. He is a retired teacher whose poems have been published in many journals, including Yellowchair Review, New Verse News, Shot Glass Journal, Kentucky Review, Boston Literary Magazine, The Ghazal Page, and War, Literature and the Arts. He is now a member of the Executive Board of the Poetry Society of New Hampshire.