Unnoticed
passed the moment
much like his life
lately
in front of the television
cane resting
against the old metal tv tray
his 15-year old border collie
waking briefly to bid farewell
quietly resting her jaw
on his gnarled palm
as she always did
as a contestant blares
i’d like to buy a letter e
i’d like to solve the puzzle—
peacefully!
a nosy neighbor
would later say as the
hearse pulled away
from the atomic ranch
unnoticed
moments before
early evening
he awoke to a flock
of terns tugging
his flannel shirtsleeves
lifting him from the spot
on a worn sofa
the imprinted
shape of his body
the only real visible
sign
he was back there
flying missions
off of the essex over
infinite gray waters that
could swallow a plane
whole
its icy shards
taking his breath away
struggling to stay afloat
as a radio blared
MAYDAY!
peacefully into the unknown
moments before
Tammy Kowalchick Rullo is an elementary teacher who loves to write. She is a Western Pennsylvania Writing Project Fellow, a division of the National Writing Project, and has been published in Edutopia, The Loyalhanna Review, and The Western PA Poetry Review. She is the daughter, niece, and cousin of military veterans from World War II through the Gulf War. As a child, she listened to their stories and her grandmother’s prayers for peace. As an adult, she wants us to honor and to remember so that we don’t repeat the past.
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