Edification

By Reid Kincaid

Above you scattered stars
still shimmering in the day’s heat;
haunting you.
small wet globes of sweat
rocked off in small showers
with each concussion
that warmed you.

what did you remember?
lying there?
what memories intruding
on your quiescence?

above you
in flaming indigo
and orange bravery,
clutching darkness
like a shield,
we look into your eyes
mouthing silence
into your shrinking self.

your grimace flickers
like a smile,
your gurgling repose
a silence much finer
without us.

Reid Kincaid is a Physician Assistant in rural Maine and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom II, where he was the battalion medical officer for the 411th Combat Engineers. He writes poetry, fiction and nonfiction. He is busily semi-retired and working on an MPH in Humanitarian Relief.