‘Yer mother wears Army boots!’
a common insult
tossed around with impunity by
young boys of another era
playground epithets
meant to insult, sans vulgarity
or other references
that might get you a fat lip or
blackened eye

‘Yer mother wears Army boots!’
also served as
group-to-group affront
kids you didn’t know or
wanted warned off
same methodology
as one-on-one slur usage
though with more derogatory
tone to group shout-outs

‘Yer mother wears Army boots!’
a screed lost on
my kids generation who
all grew up in an era
where mom wearing Army boots
was nothing more
than factual statement
to a generation wondering why
footwear would be insulting

For Mother’s Day
my eldest son
Army reservist visiting a base
with ample shopping
gifted his mother a regulation pair of
genuine U.S. Army boots
fulfilling her wish for
hiking attire, and allowing me
one more, later in life
opportunity to toss out one more
‘Yer mother wears Army boots!’

– Mark L. Lucker
© 2021
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