April's Poem

April Fools Day. Do you know how it got its name? In 1547, when the the young King Edward VI was only nine years old, his father, King Henry the VIII, died. Edward was crowned king, although his uncle, the Duke of Somerset, took over the duties of the monarch, and held King Edward in protection until he came of age. The young King had a speech impediment that he tried to hide. When he was old enough to address the court for the first time, he announced the day as April Foos. From that day on, April First became known as April Fools.


Since it is the first of the month, I am posting my latest poem. This poem is written in a different style than I usually write, but I like it. It is true that I saw the picture I describe and it inspired me to write the poem.

What is not true is the origin of April Fool's Day. Got you!


Reunion

the Sunday paper featured that photo of the serviceman
a toddler’s arms tight like a choker
around his starched collar
a wife’s head tucked in the familiar hollow
of his breastbone
the teenage son maintaining distance in stance
yet a smile escapes from the corners of his mouth

can the family squeeze the war out of him
can the serviceman exhale the memories of his deployment
without choking on the flashbacks
how long will he be a celebrated guest in his own home
and when he is not, will he resent the mundane, be bored with the banal
missing his buddies who became more like family
than the circle of people strangling him on the pier

his new habit of unfiltered Camels
may take him outside to the curb
where he can relive the close calls
contemplate and analyze the confrontations with the enemy
call up the adrenalin that became his drug of choice
so that his only option to feel alive
is to secretly plan to reenlist