PTSD Affects Dad and Me

Kristen Hoaglin

Dad’s first assignment
The blades announce the name
Chi-nook, chi-nook
I drop off to sleep

Light flashes from the back door
Dad hits the deck

Sitting around together at his birthday dinner
Laughing and jokes then
He smells a perfume that takes him back
We must leave immediately

Watching and listening movies together
Movie theater or on the couch
Orders for the soldiers start coming
Fast and furious

He has never left the battlefield
He never really came home