Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                 Four Shirtless Boys on a Mountain in California

                            Sergeant Schneider’s Prophecy

There we are in a fading color photograph
Posing atop a mountain peak in Big Bear
Immensely proud in our Edmund Hillary moment
Though most every casual hiker has been there

On Monday morning we were back in Camp Del Mar
Navy Corpsmen standing formation in Marine green
“Split off into groups of four,” Sergeant Schneider barked
“Look at the other three. Within a year
                    One of you will be dead.”

Half of Mike’s brain was blown in Viet-Nam
The other Mike died in Minnesota last year
                     I don’t know what happened to Bill