Hobbling among the rose bushes

and the choke cherries

I swing the weedwacker methodically

back and forth

letting the engine regain its strength

with each pass.

It is difficult to learn a skill

so thoroughly

that it can never be erased sufficiently

forgotten suffiently

repudiated sufficiently.

The persistence of memory

in a soldier

is regrettable.

I swing the machine back and forth

splattering green plant flesh

onto my glasses, my legs,

my hands, and arms

and hobble on

beneath a darkening sky.