(In remembrance of Henry Reed’s poems about WWII 1914 -1986.
And for my many relatives who have served in the armed forces)

Identity’s DNA fragments,
swirling spirals of life
shape-shift into naming
And claiming of parts.

Miasma, elixir, madness,
Is this my destiny?
Good, bad, indifferent
We are here at naming
And claiming of parts.

In me is coded South.
Antebellum and renegades,
generations of warriors,
Revolutionary to civil war.
Both sides claiming a part.

In me is coded to the bone,
New York, cool, chic,
and Midwestern others see.
For today we are here
At naming of parts.

Inside me dog fighting
DNA of intertribal wars,
Renegade or rebels.
Civil War Redux, naming
and claiming of parts.

As inside so outside…
Costs so immeasurably dear.
Oh my brave country rise up.
Let mercy temper wrath
And righteous freedom ring.

For today we have naming
And claiming of all our parts.