Last One Off Poem by Kyle Schlicher

i did not do it
on purpose.
I truly
was afraid
to get up
and
out of my seat.

i was a
stranger
in the world
i had
left behind.

15 months away
had
changed me.
only
i didn't know it yet.

the stewardess
came back
to get me.

'you ready to leave? '
she asked me
in a nice tone of voice.

'i think so'
i replied.
'i was just
waiting
for everybody
to get
out of the way.'

she smiled at me
and said
'how long
have you been gone? '

'fifteen months'
i said.

'you have a nice tan
and
it is february'
she said,
'so i guess
you were in vietnam. '

'yes, vietnam.'

she smiled
and
nodded her head.

I stood up
and
moved to the aisle
and
grabbed my
ditty bag
i had
stored overhead.

i turned
toward
the front
and the stewardess
put her arm
around me
and
we began walking
as she
escorted me
to the front
of the airliner.

i stopped
at the door
and
looked outside.
it looked cold, dreary
and
depressing.
it was,
after all,
february 4,1969.

i stepped out
onto
the portable stairs
and
a loud noise
suddenly
sounded
out of nowhere.

instinctively,
i ducked.

after all,
it was
february 4,1969
and
i had
just
returned
from vietnam.

(2-04-1979)