by Earl Weigelt
So you ask the same questions
you asked me last time
and you seem surprised
to get back the same answers.
Do you think of it often?
——I never stop.
Do you have to go back?
——God, Yes. I still hope so!
I hate to sit anywhere
I have to face inward.
I resent any loud noises
I don’t make myself.
Groups make we wary
while crowds wipe me out.
And if I can’t be alone
well then send me a Joe!
It’s hard to believe that something so real
can feel so much like a dream.
But no, I was there—I did my part
and those gritty months were my high-water mark!
And I’d head back over at the drop of a hat,
bring what’s mine to the fight …
and then I’d come back.
And you’d ask the same questions
you asked me last time.
And I’d hate to sit anywhere
I had to face inward.
And you’d ask me my matter
when I would grow wistful
at the whump of a chopper
or at dust clouds and diesel.
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Earl Weigelt grew up in Jackman, Maine and came to love the woods and waters of the North Country early. With family ties to service running deep, he answered a call to ministry right out of high school. Over the years he served as a youth pastor, summer camp director, educator and administrator at a small Christian school, served as a reserve police officer, and entered the US Army as a Chaplain in 2004. Having majored in religion and literature in college and holding a Doctor of Ministry in homiletics from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, he has always had an affinity for poetry, but really turned to it as a means of expression during and since a deployment to Kandahar, AFG for OEF 09-10. While much of his poetry comes out of his experiences in the outdoors, a good deal of his work has been inspired by his time in the military. Some of his poems have been featured in The Smoking Poet, The Aputamkan Review, and Goose River Anthology. He lives in Winslow, Maine with his wife Carol and serves as State Chaplain for the Maine National Guard. His son’s family resides in Harmony, Maine and his parents still live in Jackman.
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