Once More -- 11 Days of Global Unity

By Dennis Maulsby

Once more

A cold breeze ruffles the hair

On my arms, wrinkles skin

Outside the warm blanket.

Dream-slow sounds mix

Into a mush of radio static

And decades-old military call signs.

Once more the slap of bullets,

Night flares, mists of copper blood

And sulfur smoke,

Snare drum of monsoon rain.

My body shudders awake,

Stares at the ceiling, then rises

To check the locks on the doors.

In the now quiet darkness, I watch

My sleeping wife and child.

I feel a stirring, like a lover

In the night close beside me.

From the center of self blossoms

Sweet soul-touched tenderness.

Enfolded by rushing waves,

Love loosed once more.

And I know, as long as

That stirring keeps returning.

I can find peace.

Dennis Maulsby’s poems and short stories have appeared in print, on National Public Radio’s Themes & Variations, and in online literary journals. His book of Vietnam War poetry, Remembering Willie won silver medal book awards from two national veterans’ organizations. One of his poems received a 2011 Pushcart Prize nomination.