Notes from the Camofleurs
The light in Afghanistanis not the light in Vietnam.If vegetation, describe the leaf.If rock, its striation. If city, its doorwaysand lintels, its hosting of guests.Its gestures of welcome and warning.Describe the wattage of searchlights,the color of streetlamps, the wakefulnessof men. Describe the cigarette’s blooded eye,a crimp of smoke. Describe evening’slift of heat, the riming of sweat.If olive trees, describe the olives.How a fig feels in the hand.Of the women to be outfitted calculatetheir curvatures and needs, if they requiremore or fewer pockets for pens.Determine torso length, musculature,what weapons may be carried; wherethe ammo belt sits, if more mendress right or left, if concertina wirebares its teeth every three inches or four.Study how nature tucks itself into grasses,study the striping of zebras, the panther’sdarkness, a savannah and the jackalfolded within; how a seal’s belly blendswith the sky when viewed from below.A ptarmigan feathering into snow.Describe the mission: peacekeepingor suppression. Shield or storm.Consider that a pattern may dazzleor disrupt. Describe the sight lines:heat-seeking technology versus scopes.Scopes versus the sharp-eyed.When a friend is not always a friend.When a back might be turned. Consider,at times, how the jaguar wants to be seen.
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