New Mexico Mercury

What I wish I would have said to the soldier this morning as we stared each other down for a three second eternity in the *Smith’s parking lot (AKA “Officer Smith” poem)

I wonder
if this is what it feels like
standing on the other end
of your rifle
or are your eyes always that big
and soft
would you take offense?
if I said
that you are the only part
of that uniform
that makes me proud to be an American
the only part
that my tax dollars didn’t pay for
the only part
that is free
Lady soldier
they will rename movies after you
An Officer and An Elegance
I want to make movies after
You
it is impossible to camouflage your beautiful
and this lap
I just drove around the parking lot
after you set your sights
felt like a tour of duty
too long
for me to get Army brave
work up your kind of courage
roll down this window and say:
“Ma’am,
has anyone ever told you that you are gorgeous?
Especially in that uniform.
I hope that is not disrespectful,
but just thanking you for your service
is not enough…”
on her inhale
and my breath away
a civil war broke out in my heart
there is nothing finer than a woman
in uniform
she stands like a mountain
a mythical creature
half God
half Gun
she smells like
all she hangs out with is boys
no perfume
she smells like
all she does is kill boys
no platoon
she looked at me
like she hasn’t seen a man
in a very, very
long time
and I’ve never seen anything like her before
never before
have I wanted to slowly unbutton a patriot
and draft her
throw my home training
and her “basic”
out the window
love her country
until my Egyptian sheets
turn into fatigues
let her honorably
desert her uniform
to the floor of my bedroom
where it sits
like a lifeless pile of flag
nose to neck
I will smell her
for the first time
filling this room with our scent
like milk and honey
remind each other that love
is the only thing worth fighting for
open our windows
and let every neighbor know
that THIS
is what nation building sounds like!
she is the centerfold of every
military issue
enough woman
to make a grown man die
and I just wanted to thank her
for her service
because I haven’t used the words
“God”
and
“America”
in the same sentence
in a very long time.

*Smith’s is a Kroger Foods grocery chain in sunny Albuquerque, New Mexico.