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“Why Does the Night, Last So Long”

Volume 8 | Spring 2018

by Alan Yount

the same dreams
sometimes happen over and over...

    in high school
    kissing a girl for the first time:
    on the porch, suddenly lights go on.

at college, after studying all night:

    falling asleep
    I miss the final.

late for an interview:
finally get there
 
    & find out it’s the wrong room.

my young daughter, who I still smell 
her fragrance, from hugging me:

    slips away, and
    disappears down a crowded street...

some nights, floating
up and out of bed
smothered in covers...

    and I can’t cry out...

down here with craig schmitz
(my high school dance band drummer)
who was killed, in vietnam.

    we are forever clawing up a muddy hill
    somewhere north of da nang...

it’s three a.m.
you think you’re awake?
or asleep?
a voice tells you:

    there’s nothing
    you can ever go back to again
    and change in your life, 
    even in your dreams.

why does the night
          last so long...

Who We Are

Military Experience and the Arts, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose primary mission is to work with veterans and their families to publish short stories, essays, poems, and artwork in our biannual publication, As You Were: The Military Review, periodic editions of Blue Nostalgia: The Journal of Post-Traumatic Growth and others. To the best of our ability, we pair each author or poet that submits work to us with a mentor to work one-on-one to polish their work or learn new skills and techniques.

Our staff is based all over the country and includes college professors, professional authors, veterans’ advocates, and clinicians. As such, most of our services are provided through email and online writing workshops.

All editing, consultations, and workshops are free of charge. Veterans and their families pay nothing for our services, and they never will.

Under our Publications tab, there are more than two dozen volumes of creative work crafted by veterans and their family members as well as a virtual art gallery. Our blog posts feature short pieces that cover a wide range of opinion editorials, literary reviews, and profiles on veteran artists and writers.

Please consider spending some time navigating our site and reading and seeing the fine work of veterans and their families from around the globe.

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