For Jimmy

I read the Daily Record
to find my friend’s brother:
WalterReed MedicalCenter.
Jimmy’s convoy in an IED attack.
Second tour in
and it was almost over.
In and out of a coma.
Now surrounded
by tubes and a respirator,
reaching for life.
And Dave is ready for travel;
his second tour.
It was summer ’99,
Dave, Jimmy, and I
hiked the Delaware Water Gap,
Pennsylvania side.
The drought was obvious-
the creeks and waterfalls dried up,
we compared the postcards.
Years before we thought
any of this was possible.
Military far from our minds.
Looked like three grubby misfits
walking in that diner;
unshaven, sweating, dirty.
Sat us in the back,
out of sight, we joked.

August 2005