Chasm | By Kevin McGowan

dux of the school

the teacher brought oranges

to your door when you were sick

for working class families the fresh

burst of citrus could in your day

be purchased only with brains

then came the war

a dux should never have to hold a rifle

but, through cigar smoke, the powers decreed it

dresden is raining porcelain

and no brain, least of all yours,

ought to be taxed in such a way

my generation has known war too

albeit with ourselves

history is a chasm between you and i

i still remember how your ghost raged

in the downstairs kitchen at my decision

you, a dux

me, a dropout

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Kevin McGowan is a writer based in Stirling, Scotland. He has been published in Fiction on the Web, Literally Stories, Inklings Anthology (Stryvling Press), Peeking Cat Poetry, Eunoia Review, Bandit Fiction, Plum Tree Tavern, Pendemic, Snakeskin and Runcible Spoon, with work forthcoming in Dreich and Poetry Lab Shanghai. His short story, ‘God’s Shoulder’, was awarded Stirling University’s 2017 Research-Based Learning Prize. In September 2020, his poetry collection, ‘Eastern Thistles’, won 1st place in Dreich Magazine’s chapbook competition and will shortly become his first published chapbook. Kevin also holds an MLitt in Creative Writing.