A book we read in class one summer <br />when summer sun and crack of bat <br />distracted us from assigned reading <br />and the discussions we held indoors <br /> <br />was written about a wounded soldier <br />who gradually comes to realize <br />the extent of his injuries <br />and prefers death <br /> <br />Grim stuff for high school kids <br />used to running and catching <br />baseballs - stretching ourselves <br />physically and mentally <br /> <br />on baseball diamonds in the sun <br />so that confinement in a bed <br />for the rest of one's life <br />struck a chord of fear <br />and we would have rather died, too!<br /><br />Michael Pruchnicki<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/johnny-s-gun/
