Terminal Leave

The unarmored
shoes she dons
leave space in the toe
for a soul. A phantom
hanging on her thigh
slips past
the mind’s
control.

Circles she’s in
wheel slowly.
She cracks jokes that go over
like lead.
The flag once borne
on a shoulder
now fatigues a frame
by her bed.

Eyes that once
were beside
watch her recede
into light; pills
the VA prescribed
count down
like rounds
in a fight.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

Spiraling Down in Speyer

George Weigel

Speyer is a charming city on the west bank of the Rhine River. Its splendid medieval core…

Have American Catholics Given Up on Evangelizing?

Francis X. Maier

Here’s a simple, biblical truth: We’re never as smart as we think we are, and we’re never…

The Wandering Bishops

Damian Thompson

Immediately after the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) consecrated four new bishops in an Alpine meadow…