HC Palmer was born in Kansas and served with the US Army’s First Infantry Division in Vietnam in 1965–1966 as a battalion surgeon. Before retiring, Palmer had a thriving practice specializing in internal and sports medicine, and he now works with veterans with moral injury and PTSD and directs a writing program in association with the Writers’ Place and the Kansas City Public Libraries. Palmer’s debut poetry collection is Feet of the Messenger. He lives in Lenexa, Kansas, with his wife, Valerie.

If I Die in a Combat Zone

by HC Palmer

If I must be killed,
I wish to be killed by a sniper.

His efficient nail
does not require a tree


or an IED. I want him to remember
me, magnified, lit up,
People on couch
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