You explained how
your country is requiring men your age
to join the force
and serve for some years,
but that was nothing like your
voluntary obligation to your dreams
to become a valiant fighter pilot
and so

You said goodbye.

I understood that.
My dad was a soldier as well,
but instead of the sky,
he was a man of the seas and distant shores.

What I didn't understand was
how my mother
could possibly love someone
who was barely even there
but now

*I think I do.