That Sound.
In Flight.
That Deep
Gut Wrenching
Soul Rescuing
Sound.
I Know It
Like No Other.
Echos Of It
Deep Inside
That Place
In My Mind.
It Mixes With
The Smells
Of That Place.
The Way It Felt.
The Other Sounds
I Knew It Would
Eventually Mix With It Too.
But If You Asked Me
What I Remember
The Most.
What Really Stuck With Me.
What I Really Saw
What I Really Heard
When I Looked Up
Into The Endless
Sky Above Me.
If I Could Look At You
& Be Truthful With You.
I Would Show You
A Picture I Carry
In My Mind.
Of An Angel
Clothed In Olive Drab.
Covered In Armor
Of Steel.
Wielding A Weapon.
Deadly.
Carrying With Gentle Grace
Those Who Could Fight No More.
Those Who Would Fight
To Avenge A Warriors Sacrifice.
An Angel
I Still See Now In My Sleep.
I Still Hear In My Dreams.
Never To Be Feared.
Always To Be Loved.
So Please
I Ask You.
To The Ones Who Guided
My Angels Path To Me.
To The Ones Who Still
Dream Of Me.
I Ask You
To Remember Me
In My Angels Embrace.
To Know What I Saw.
What I Know Was
& Will Always Be.
Our Angels Come To Us
In Many Forms.
Mine Took Shape Of
A Chopper.
Whispering In The Distance
I'm Bringing You Home.
Based on the stories I grew up hearing--& The one told to me, in broken words, covered in shame, while I was working in a tiny store, in small town,
when I was 27, about 15 yrs ago.
The Stories I heard, growing up,were glittered with awe. They were proud, respectful, reverent almost--That's how I knew them--That's who I saw.
When I met this man yrs later, with his own son next to him--I saw pain, sadness, regret....fear....that he'd done the wrong thing, that they would never forgive him.
I don't know why it works out that way for me--That I meet these ppl, that I become this....conduit....for these Moments.
But I was there--& It was meant to be, I suppose.
I looked at him, & we talked, in my line--Me behind a tiny cashier stand, music blaring, & all I could hear--Was his shame, & the Choppers he must still hear at night, in his dreams.
We talked some more--& It took me a time to realize, to compute that look--That he was one of the Ones--That had been a pilot--Or even a door gunner, I suppose--Because I already knew what one of those looked like.
I knew then--It--The Stories I knew....That he didn't know them....That no one told him....That he just didn't know....That he couldn't imagine not being that monster he only knew.
I don't remember the exact words anymore--Even tho I remembered them all for a long time.....But I remember the fogginess in his eyes--The reluctant eye contact--The refusal to see himself any other way.....
& I knew this was a Fate Moment--That changes you--Because you're about to change them....
& Told him the Stories I know.....
What the Guys saw....What they called him....What they always knew.....
That he was their Guide--Their Guardian....Their Savior.....
That they never remembered being left there.....
They only remembered their Angel approaching....Tearing through the sky.....
That it was almost over, at least for a little while.
Those are Moments that time stops--Just long enough--To witness a another human being change, and become something new.
I got to watch as another Creature I share this shit planet with--Be given a second chance....& Take with them a lighter load....Leaving room for a future, & not just a past.
I'm grateful for that....
& All our Angels
Who
Bring
Us
Home.
If you're still out there.....Thank you.....
& Welcome
Home.
In Flight.
That Deep
Gut Wrenching
Soul Rescuing
Sound.
I Know It
Like No Other.
Echos Of It
Deep Inside
That Place
In My Mind.
It Mixes With
The Smells
Of That Place.
The Way It Felt.
The Other Sounds
I Knew It Would
Eventually Mix With It Too.
But If You Asked Me
What I Remember
The Most.
What Really Stuck With Me.
What I Really Saw
What I Really Heard
When I Looked Up
Into The Endless
Sky Above Me.
If I Could Look At You
& Be Truthful With You.
I Would Show You
A Picture I Carry
In My Mind.
Of An Angel
Clothed In Olive Drab.
Covered In Armor
Of Steel.
Wielding A Weapon.
Deadly.
Carrying With Gentle Grace
Those Who Could Fight No More.
Those Who Would Fight
To Avenge A Warriors Sacrifice.
An Angel
I Still See Now In My Sleep.
I Still Hear In My Dreams.
Never To Be Feared.
Always To Be Loved.
So Please
I Ask You.
To The Ones Who Guided
My Angels Path To Me.
To The Ones Who Still
Dream Of Me.
I Ask You
To Remember Me
In My Angels Embrace.
To Know What I Saw.
What I Know Was
& Will Always Be.
Our Angels Come To Us
In Many Forms.
Mine Took Shape Of
A Chopper.
Whispering In The Distance
I'm Bringing You Home.
Based on the stories I grew up hearing--& The one told to me, in broken words, covered in shame, while I was working in a tiny store, in small town,
when I was 27, about 15 yrs ago.
The Stories I heard, growing up,were glittered with awe. They were proud, respectful, reverent almost--That's how I knew them--That's who I saw.
When I met this man yrs later, with his own son next to him--I saw pain, sadness, regret....fear....that he'd done the wrong thing, that they would never forgive him.
I don't know why it works out that way for me--That I meet these ppl, that I become this....conduit....for these Moments.
But I was there--& It was meant to be, I suppose.
I looked at him, & we talked, in my line--Me behind a tiny cashier stand, music blaring, & all I could hear--Was his shame, & the Choppers he must still hear at night, in his dreams.
We talked some more--& It took me a time to realize, to compute that look--That he was one of the Ones--That had been a pilot--Or even a door gunner, I suppose--Because I already knew what one of those looked like.
I knew then--It--The Stories I knew....That he didn't know them....That no one told him....That he just didn't know....That he couldn't imagine not being that monster he only knew.
I don't remember the exact words anymore--Even tho I remembered them all for a long time.....But I remember the fogginess in his eyes--The reluctant eye contact--The refusal to see himself any other way.....
& I knew this was a Fate Moment--That changes you--Because you're about to change them....
& Told him the Stories I know.....
What the Guys saw....What they called him....What they always knew.....
That he was their Guide--Their Guardian....Their Savior.....
That they never remembered being left there.....
They only remembered their Angel approaching....Tearing through the sky.....
That it was almost over, at least for a little while.
Those are Moments that time stops--Just long enough--To witness a another human being change, and become something new.
I got to watch as another Creature I share this shit planet with--Be given a second chance....& Take with them a lighter load....Leaving room for a future, & not just a past.
I'm grateful for that....
& All our Angels
Who
Bring
Us
Home.
If you're still out there.....Thank you.....
& Welcome
Home.
 |
| SEPT. 2014 PATRIOTS DAY POW/MIA DAY |
 |
| AROUND THE SAME TIME AS I WROTE THE POEM/SHORT STORY BOTH ARE HAND DRAWN--FREE HAND BOTH FROM MY MEMORIES & FROM THE WAY I IMAGINE THEY WOULD BE FOR THE WARRIORS WHO MADE IT HOME IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER..... WRAPPED IN THE ARMS OF THEIR OLIVE DRAB ANGELS.... WELCOME HOME. |
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