I Miss Rachel
Rachel Rix
I’m less than a line.
He journals about intelligence,
surveillance, and reconnaissance.
About time sensitive targets.
JTACs, CJOCs, and LCOs.
He writes about threat warnings,
battle rhythms, and 16-mile runs.
Wishes the Taliban would stop
blowing things up. Sleep is difficult.
The days so long he can’t recall
mornings. When he writes, my soldiers,
I think of the pewter palace guard
I brought back from London.
Though I only wanted one soldier,
he came in a clear plastic case of four.
I don’t know who I could have asked,
one husband please.
Rachel Rix has published work in War Literature & the Arts, The Tiger Moth Review, Verdad, Right Hand Pointing, the anthology, When There Are Nine (as well as being shortlisted for the Fish Anthology 2020 poetry contest in Ireland). Rix earned an MFA from the University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe, and she works as a CMT in Sacramento where she lives with her husband, Adam, and their two cats, Floppy and Leo.
ISSUED 