Poem To The Front

(For My Twin Sister Debbie)

After three major surgeries

the scars on her belly

Could make Rand McNally

a new deluxe road atlas.

Presidio. Garrison. Fort Oh-My-God—Inside her

Great battles waged

for the state of existence.

What do I say to the warrior?

Do I tell her the curtains are hung

and what the dog did to the rug?

Tell her that the Magnolia's are in bloom.

That apples are .99 cents a pound.

That I lost my keys at the mall.

I suppose I should tell her all of these things.

Tell her of mundane Mondays, Tuesday’s special at Wal Mart,

and how the old lady next door

still farts in the garden.

That’s what you tell a warrior’s isn’t it?

You never speak of the war

when what is between the lines

is the country of love

in the county of her suffering.

©2004 Dan Kantak