Was this written by Richard Brautigan? I found it on a Brautigan
dedicated website, but have never seen it before.  What year would it
be from, if he indeed wrote it? --

"Star-Spangled Nails" --
 You've got some "Star-Spangled" nails in your coffin, kid.
 That's what they've done for you, son.

Greetings ransonh!

Yes, that poem was written by Brautigan.  It is from 1968 and appears
in the book "Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster."

"I haven't memorized many poems, but I've never forgotten Richard
Brautigan?s 'Star-Spangled Nails' ... It was published in 1968, when
the death toll of U.S. soldiers in Vietnam had climbed to thirty
thousand."
above text from "Sy Safransky's Notebook":
http://www.thesunmagazine.org/325_Sy.pdf

To read more about the various editions of "Pill Versus..." and to see
the titles of all the poems contained in it (including "Star-Spangled
Nails"), please see the Pill Versus page on brautigan.net:
http://www.brautigan.net/brautigan/pill.html

You can order a current edition of it on Amazon.com.
"Amazon listing for Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster":
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0440369568

To read the text of a few more poems in the book, check out:
http://www.divinentd.com/brautigan/pilltext.html

I hope this information is helpful.  If you would like for me to
clarify any part of my answer or further research your question,
please let me know before issuing a rating.  Thanks!


leep-ga


some search strategies used:
"some Star-Spangled nails in your coffin"
"The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster"