It was a hot summer Georgia morning.
The fresh smell of pine
The sounds of marching solders
Reveille played over the loud speakers

As cooks, we started our day early
Everything seemed normal
Normal for Army life, that is
Life that I got used to

I put on my uniform
Polished my boots
Walked over to the dining facility
Expecting to fail inspection, again

"Report to HHC Immediately!"
24th Infantry Division (mechanized)
"First to Fight"
This was serious

What was going on?
Confusion afoot
Kuwait was ambushed
Sadam must be stopped

We marched over to the gymnasium
There were stations set up
Line up for innoculations
Fill out your Last Will and Testament

March over to the barraks
Pack up your gear
Only what you can carry
Sneak in some comfort items

What about the rest of my stuff?
Someone will look after it
Don't worry, it's safe
Soldiers are a bunch of thieves

March over to the National Guard barraks
They look like the did in WWII
50 double bunks in a row
they smelled moldy

This was our new home
until further notice
I haven't slept
in 48 hours

No communication
to your family or firends
I snuck out
to the pay phone

Not sure what to say
other than don't worry
I love you
goodbye

I am one of
the first one hundred
soldiers to depart
Single, no close family

We board the ship
It is massive!
USNS Capella (T-AKR 293)
In the Savannah Harbour

Tanks, helecopters
Trucks, supplies
One hundred ARMY soldiers
Ready to disembark

We stand along port side
at parade rest
A tear rolls
Down my face

Thousands of civilians
Waving flags
Cheers of goodbyes
Crying children and wives

The ship leaves port
slowly pulls away
the cheers fade
into the ocean depths

First day afloat
The ship rocks slowly
Hard to get used to
Motion Sickness kicks in

I worked in the galley
T-Ration for breakfast
MRE for lunch
T-Ration for dinner

I ate with the Marines
A-Ration meals
Privilege of being
a Food Service Specialist

Trash accumulated
Throw it overboard
Alongside the bow
Death to the oceans

Many days pass
I read a book
Hyperion (Dan Simmons)
The only book I had

I sit on the deck
the sea in all directions
mystifies the soul
we are alone

I wake up to discover
Another ship next to us
USNS American Explorer
(T-AOT-165) Refueling ship

We reach the Suez Canal
Egypt looks beautiful
To the east: lush greenscape
to the west: barren wasteland

Egyptian Militants
watching intensely
along the shoreline
they saw my camera

Merchants come aboard
"Good deals for you,
American G. I."
I bought some batteries

I get to phone home
satellite communication
ten dollars a minute
worth every penny

We reach our destination
Twelve day journey ended
time to unload
organized chaos

All hands on deck
mechanized disembark
crash course
on driving a tank

Transported to my unit
in the tent city
they got there first
flown by commercial airliner

time to roll out
loaded my gear
WRONG TRUCK!
Ruck sack gone forever

Lost my walkman
lost my camera
lost my book
was in the ruck sack

to be continued.........

Goodbye, soldier girl,
throw on that pack.
Lace up those boots,
and don't look back.

Many experiences we've shared,
now lay behind.
Your future awaits -
more, you will find.

Life is full of bridges,
and some just have to burn.
While you crossed first,
I waited my turn.

I waited too long,
and my path was lost.
Hesitating at the threshold,
I bore the cost.

You charged on,
decisive and brave.
Your determined liberty,
a reality I crave.

Goodbye, soldier girl,
throw on that pack.
Lace up those boots,
and don't look back.

You've always stared at me,
standing at the finish line.
You're doing it again,
but I'll be fine.

I'll see you again,
in four long years.
Painful hours will pass,
but there will be no tears.

Because I am proud of you.

You own your bridge,
and it will not burn.
You've borne many struggles,
but now it's your turn.

You will do right,
no matter your worry.
You will come out victorious,
and with a new story.

Goodbye, soldier girl,
throw on that pack.
Lace up those boots,
and don't look back.

Goodbye, soldier girl,
I will miss you.
Don't look back,
or you may see it, too.

I’ve come back to this a soldier,
the blood you extracted from my body
now smeared stripes on my cheekbones.

But buckle in.
Do I really need?
         -yes

A bullet proof vest inches thick. Barricades my bones
and sewn into the bones of my torso with hope.
            but that’s only for in case you shoot me, again,
              in the left chest.

- then that’s only if you become the target. if you whisper your vulnerability into his eyes, again. and stand hopeless before it all.

No I cannot bare it one more time.

He never seen me hospitalised in the bed of a room so empty. ( a mind so empty, numb)
So abandoned the nurses had left.
So abandoned I was the nurse the doctor the therapist the healer.
Doctor barely retrieved blood
Nurse barely rose me back to my feet
Therapist didn’t give forget.   wouldn’t let me forget - what about it I loved because he had never found it in me.
Then I am reminded again.

- so soldier buckle up the bare skin that can so easily be burned. buckle up in black.

I wear it in fear hesitation ilness and resentment to a repeat.

- better off safe than sorry

But safe now becomes a sorry to the soul for restraining.

  - sorry

You've not broken a man
Not when he sighs or sheds a tear
Not when his heart is filled with fear
You've not broken him
When he cries in pain
Nor when he claims he is slain
You've broken a man
When his shoulders cave
When he has dropped to his knees
When he no longer rises
And refuses to see

So long ago, the soldiers fell,
A raging war we cannot tell.
In our hearts, they each will dwell,
The poppies will tell us that all is well.

Fighting, hurting, to reach this day,
For what is now, we thank and pray.
For laughing children, happy and gay,
In memories from us, they will always lay.

So for this, we wear a single red flower,
That show they died for what's rightfully ours.
How they lost their numbers, hour by hour,
Their loyalty was, indeed, a great power.

So long ago, the soldiers fell,
A raging war we cannot tell.
In our hearts, they each will dwell,
The poppies will tell us that all is well.