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by Ellen E. Kazimer

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If she lost just one, for whom would Penelope grieve more?
Odysseus, the husband, or Telemachus, the son?
Both husband and son went to war on a distant shore.
Penelope left her truth in her weaving undone.

Odysseus, the husband, or Telemachus, the son?
Penelope had a hundred-eight suiters, but only one boy.
Penelope left her truth in her weaving undone.
A husband can be replaced, but never a son.

Penelope had hundred-eight suitors, but only one boy.
I hid my truth since his deployment began.
A husband can be replaced, but never a son.
I count the days until he returns from Afghanistan.

I hid my truth since his deployment began.
Both husband and son went to war on a distant shore.
I count the days until he returns from Afghanistan.
If she lost just one, for whom would Penelope grieve more?

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Ellen Kazimer, veteran, military spouse, and military mom, writes for both children and adults. She has an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Hamline University and recently completed the Writer-to-Writer Mentorship program sponsored by the Association of Writing Professionals and Programs. She is published with Military Experience and the Arts and The Veterans Writing Project. She writes short stories, poetry and continues working on a WWI novel.

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