Barbara Peckham Poet Free verse

On Which Everyone Said I Was Crazy, Including Me

I was married a year in June of 1952,
when my husband, Doug, was drafted
into the Korean “not-a-war” that,
of course, really was a war in disguise.

After basic training Doug was sent to
Fort Knox in Louisville, Kentucky, for tank
training (for which he had NO aptitude)
that was supposed to be three months.

I was 23 but had never learned to drive, so 
I took a crash course and got my license in July
because I had to drive to work. By then I
had decided to go be with Doug as long as I could.

I had bought a 1940 Pontiac ($200) with
98,000 miles on it, in which I planned to drive from
New Haven to Troy, NY, to pick up a stranger.
(Did I say everyone thought I was demented?)

I was scared to death but couldn’t have admitted it.
Off I went to Louisville with my 3-month-old license
and someone I didn’t know, who didn’t drive. 
packed like the Oakies in The Grapes of Wrath

Three days – no Thruway then, only Rte. 20. 
Labor Day weekend traffic – HOT – no air-
conditioning. Cold grape juice signs all AM, dry cornfields
all afternoon. Through Buffalo, NY, Friday  at rush hour.

At last, blessed bed and breakfast in Erie, PA.
SOO tired, hands I thought were permanently
cramped from gripping the steering wheel.
Another grueling day and a half to go.

Cheered ourselves that we would have
a comfortable room and hot showers on the base.
No dice. A converted barracks, creaky cots, 
We were so tired we just laughed hysterically.

For two months I drove to work at a bank and
Back and forth the Dixie “Die-way” to Fort Knox.
Rented a room, and, when he got his orders, sold the
car for $100 and bought a plane ticket home!

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