Uncle David

Uncle David, Who Twirled Me
A big ugly man who smelled of wood dust
would pick me up and twirl me around until
I was dizzy.

Wobbling, I would beg for more from this
gentle person who was on the edge of
my life.

One day Grandma had his picture on her
mantle showing him in his uniform, and
there hung a sign outside that was about him.

At two-years-old, I knew not of wars of men.
Still, I felt its presence in a way I did not
understand.

Suddenly the mail became a sacred repository
that was to be handled only by the responsible.
Some letter might have come with a bit of news.

Uncle David, with his rough, pitted skin
and the broken hands of a hard-working man,
had gone to this War.

One day the adults said Uncle David was
coming home and we went to the train station.
My excitement flooded me and I danced
on my holey, worn out, too small shoes.

Any minute he would appear and twirl me
extra long to make up for being gone.
A box came off the train, draped in a flag.

Everyone was annoyed with me for asking
where Uncle David was; I didn’t understand.
That he was in that box never occurred to me.
I was just mad that they told me he was home,
but I did not see him anywhere.

Later, my mother dressed me in my best dress,
combed my Shirley Temple curls and warned
me to be on my best behavior for
Uncle David’s ceremony.

I was confused, we had one celebration
where they put that box deep in the ground,
everyone crying and we wondering when
Uncle David would come to give a twirl.

There was a big crowd at the post office,
bands and marchers; I was giddy with glee.
Some soldier man said nice things about
my uncle as he handed my grandma a flag.

My mother showed the place in the
cement where Uncle David’s name was carved.
That day I learned the word “hero”.

They had shiny medals in a box for Grandma.
She cried and hunched over like she might be sick.
The aunts and uncles were crying and  a man
played a really sad song on a trumpet.

I waited and waited for Uncle David to show up.
I asked and asked, and was told to shush and
go play.

I didn’t understand the hero stuff at all,
but I understand my Uncle David wasn’t there
and would never twirl me until I was dizzy again.
War is not a complicated thing. Some moron
decides we have to rule the world and people die.