Philip Metres - When I Was a Child, I Lived as a Child, I Said to My Dad

Saint Paul was a jackass, my father muttered,
keystroking his tank into position in “The Mother

 

Of All Tank Battles.”  I turned back to the screen,
maneuvering pixilated tanks.  Each arrow key

 

altered trajectory, each cursor tap a tank blast.  Fast-
forward two decades: in a cubicle outside Vegas,

 

Jonah joysticks his Predator above Afghanistan,
drone jockey hovering above a house on computer screen.

 

He knows someone’s inside.  Is it his target?  Who else
inside—cooking, crawling—will not o...