One of the Toughest Goodbyes I'Ve Ever Had To Say

This piece was inspired by the relentless nightmare of my family and I watching my older brother fly off in a plane to serve in the armed forces in Vietnam in the 1960s. He survived, and is doing well, but was, of course, forever psychologically damaged by the experience. Weren't they all? And Afghanistan is no different! The sun, a wild florescent orange, had burned away the clouds, leaving what we poets tend to call - an ‘azure sky’, And, scented by a nearby field of corn, the breeze was soft, as I, quite unexpectedly, would feel me start to cry! Not the type to do so, I was clearly unprepared, as contradictory feelings had me searching for the – ‘why’... When I looked up and saw my brother, standing in the doorway of what I knew was racing him away to likely die! Both our folks and all our siblings, there to see him off, waving energetically, were weeping...as was I... And as the aircraft disappeared, for all - without a doubt - this was what we poets tend to call - ‘a tough goodbye’.