Dover Base (Armies Clash by Night)

December 3, 2015
Issue 

He fell in Afghanistan
Sometime the day before

The Major from the New Mexico National Guard
couldn't find my house
and it was a stormy night in Albuquerque
So we talked by cell phone instead--
No dress uniforms at my door--
It was a clean three shots
Straight through the heart
He was dead before he hit the ground

The Major was a father himself he said
I could hear his kid behind the phone
I could see my own son reaching up to his dad

The Major called back later
The government could fly me
the Major said
to the Dignified Transfer at Dover base

I asked where that was
The Major said he thought it was maybe in Indianapolis
But he wasn't sure exactly where

I looked it up on Google and found
It is at Dover Delaware
Far from New Mexico
Far from here

I don't know where he is
I know he is beautiful there

[This poem is about Nevin's son, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2013.]

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