CONROE, TX — I was recently asked to a poetry reading by my friend Dr. Ken Davis, a retired physician, who is privy to a small group of verse loving instructors at Lone Star College – Montgomery. Since, I love a challenge I accepted with pleasure. The poet, Juan Manuel ’DOC’ Pérez, is an interesting man; a war veteran like myself, in fact from my time during Operation Desert Storm. He is a proud Mexican-American Indian, tall, tough and imposing, although I suspect he is a gentle giant; but at one time he wouldn’t have had any scrumples in snapping anyone’s neck who got in his way. It’s sorta like that Syrian bus driver I occasionally write about; the one that wanted to go to Damascus, while I needed to get back to the Persian Gulf, of which the disagreement was quickly settled when I drew my sidearm. Well, both Pérez and I are a lot nicer now. In a way, Juan has always been a poet, writing for girlfriends, and even experimenting with gothic poems. He’s written about his Chicano and Indian heritage, and even science fiction. While lil ‘ol me, I don’t know my ‘hai’ from my ‘ku,’ but we chose to express ourselves in different ways; and we write for the same purpose, to free ourselves from the demons that should be locked away in the dark crevices of our minds.
Original Article: https://www.newsbreak.com/news/3695675671216-poetry-review-thirty-years-ago-a-war-veterans-bitter-reminisces
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