by Earl Weigelt
Tower One overwatching orchard and riverbed;
line of sight clear to Witch’s Hat.
Goats and children, soccer balls and scrawny cats.
Mountains all ’round, A.N.A. hovel on top.
FOB-dog, dirty and sprawled is sleeping and twitching.
Dangerous Blackfeet Joes smoking and joking.
One-Twenty Mike-Mike booming “Good Morning!”
Two-O-Three ranging, blasting cliff faces
and an early patrol readies for recon.
ICAT and airdrop, pallets and blivets;
water’s all scattered—again,
so we bucket-brigade to the DFAC.
Better grub here than they serve down at KAF
and even saltier conversation to season;
AFN blaring and “AKO Loading …”
Guitar and Bibles and a short worship service;
Communion and choruses sung.
A rooftop sit, then some darts in the TOC.
Three warriors hurt this week in a blast
less than three clicks from the gate.
Thank God they all made it out!
Arghandab’s not far—just past the horizon.
Filthy with Taliban there!
If you cross it, it surely will cost you.
Tower guard double; night vision monocular;
Two-Forty needs cleaning; cigars need smoking;
“Careful … it ain’t water in that bottle!”
A Mighty Fierce thunderstorm thrashes the valley.
Tower Two radios up—“Hey, you guys seein’ this?
Man, it’s just awesome!”
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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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