50 People - 45 Poem by Raj Dronamraju

45

Robert's father had passed away when he was an infant
He had no recollection of him
He did leave him with a feminine sounding last name

But the feminine sounding name was not the real reason for the chip on his shoulder
Rather it was the burning anger over the death of his father
His father a pilot shot down during his service in the Vietnam War

The chip on his shoulder he named "Communism"
And he steered every conversation no matter the topic towards a rant on this topic
For Robert, Communism was not a philosophy to be debated but the object of his hate
The murderer of his father

To his credit, he did not seem to be racist against Vietnamese or anyone not like him
Did not allow that type of hatred control over the chip on his shoulder
Instead, he embraced a paramilitary look with camouflage pants
He subscribed to gun magazines and when he was old enough purchased a handgun himself