steadies, and: carnival subjects, and: white hat guardmount, and: shotgun ride

Steadies

you write the same letter over again
and again but just changed the name
but two steady girl friends
found bout each other
and then I think I could
a gotten by explain to each
that I'm disappointing the other one slow
I could have gone around it
but they compared letters somehow
and dropped me like hot log
and you'd think
your steady girl friends
would be more understanding
more full of faith
and not be double-dealing so
but it was those letters
that caught me up
but it was much easier you understand
at least with those two steadies
listen you can write
the same letter once
as easy as twice
or even three times
you know it? I do

Carnival subjects

Carnival time was once on base one of the few instances when they took pees out of the stockade and sent them for police duty outside the fences, but poor Tenewicz, a good man inside, knew how to act a guard in the stockade; he didn't know how outside. NCO, you know, no chance outside. He involves an altercation event where the pees end up apprehending three Spanish guys. So the prisoners, all a little beat up on, these subjects they're in the D-cell and we're trying to find out what happened. Drunk and disorderly, right? No. They break anything? No? They obstruct anything? No. And it finally resolved, the thing we get from Tenewicz is that they was saying bad things about Tenewicz in Spanish when he walked by. In Spanish. And we asked him what they say to you exactly, and he said he didn't know exactly because he cain't speak Spanish. Now the Desk Sergeant Gregarian, he is not Spanish, but he's ethnic, you know. He says that's good enough for me, and he lets all the subjects go.

White hat guardmount

civilian file clerk GS-3
click click click click click
coin falling
sliding bottle bottle bottle noise

we line up
white hats green scarves bloused boots
and it's never expressed
but it is done by age older people
twenty-three twenty-four
up front towards right
and new people
recent MP School graduates
from Fort Gordon
towards back and left

patrol supervisor sergeant says
Karen, I wish you wouldn't walk by
while we are having my guardmount
and she just smiles in return
she could give a shit
a civilian file clerk GS-3
on her way to her morning bottle of coke
and bag of cheese curls
sergeant says to her don't
and everyone of us thinks do

Shotgun ride

two weeks in country
monkey house honcho
Lonnie Kingman
tell me
    Lonnie Kingman
    is telling you
    get on you steel pot
    sixteen
    flak jacket
    MP brassard
    so as
    you can ride shotgun
    in the three quarter ton
    oh no you don't sit
    with the driver
    Lonnie Kingman do that
    Lonnie Kingman say
    you shotgun rider number two
    we did that before
    Lonnie Kingman himself
    just one rifle in front
    half the prisoners
    leave out the back
    before Lonnie Kingman
    could figure out beans
    when the bag was open