afghanistan

I heard on the radio
a few months back
that you had died.

Your convoy
had simply been
in the right place
at the wrong time.

My only thought
was how close I was
to being there with you.
And how sad I felt
that I wasn't.

I feel bad
that I don't talk about you
about who you were,
more often,
or at all.

Like that one time
you ate a whole box of kraft dinner
in under two minutes
just to make me laugh.

You were my fire-team partner
and never failed to look out for me.
I was just a young kid
wanting to wear the uniform
looking up to guys like you.

I'm sorry I left, bro
I never really wanted to
But you always said
you would have done
the same thing.

readers