Norah
came to the 2005 Veteran’s Day reading on the Mall with her husband and two
children. Her father, Donald Taylor, served in Vietnam from ’69 to ’71 in
DaNang, with the 37th Signal Battalion and in the Ashau Valley with
the 101st Airborn. These poems are written in honor of her
father, her Grandfather (a WWII veteran), and a cousin, Jaworski Doucette, now
serving in Ramadi, Iraq.
I
remember you,
so strong
and handsome.
Nothing
else in the world
existed
except us.
I
remember your
Kool
cigarettes and the way
you would
rest your hand,
four
fingers,
slightly
under the waistband
of your
dungarees with no fuss.
I
remember your skullcap,
the way
you would roll it up high
on your
forehead,
your hair
curling
a perfect
form below it.
I
remember your eyes,
small and
beautiful
always
with the
twinkle
of me they were lit.
I
remember the comfort
of your
voice when you
smiled at
me—Baby girl &
she remembers
you, Daddy boy,
when she
laughed back,
you being
her entire world.
Then I
remember…
I remember…
The noise
and the screaming.
I
remember the blows and the pleading.
I
remember your voice,
your
comforting voice disappearing.
I
remember your eyes,
your
beautiful eyes
glare as
if bleeding.
I
remember the seizures, the tumors, and the surgeries.
I
remember your skullcap,
rolled
much too high upon your forehead
allowing
my tiny hands to run across the ruler like scar
that
tattooed it entirety with dread.
I
remember the bombs, the blood, the bane, and the banishment.
I
remember the—
Pain and
anguish of abandonment.
I
remember the hospitals, the meds, the missing,
and the
ghosts.
I remember
attempts at rehabilitation and assimilation
at its
most.
I
remember your strength,
your love
and your words.
But most
of all Daddy,
I
remember to thank you
for
giving me these nerves.
Written
in living memory and honor of my cousin Jaworski Doucette
Serving
in Ramadi, Iraq.
With you
I do this time in service
For
although I am not in action with you
The risk
and fear I feel are great.
For you I
speak these words of support
Because I
realize that nothing
More than
encouragement
Can help
you through this fate.
With you
I do this time in service
Using my
voice as a reminder to all,
That it
is you who sacrifice your mind,
Body and
soul for our cause.
For you I
speak these words of support
Because I
realize that many
Exist
oblivious to our suffering
In their
luxury of ambivalence without pause.
And it is
with you I do this time in service
Saluting
with you in pride when you return to our midst.
And it is
for you I speak these words of support
In
remembrance for those we shall miss.
Written
in loving memory of my Grandfather Roy J. Jack.
Service
in the Army Air Corps
I know
you
Are here
With me.
I could
never do this before.
I can
feel it.
I know
they
Wish it
not
To be,
but,
I can feel
it.
You never
wrote
Like me,
Not for
lack
Of
creativity.
I guess
you couldn’t
For lack
of clemency.
Your path
Was hard,
Though,
You never
lost
Your
whim.
I know
you’re getting
A good
laugh
Right now
Seeing,
ME, swim…