We listened to Gabriel Heatter for the war news,
he had a booming voice, I can still hear him.

“More than half a million women holding down war jobs!”
We kept the window shades pulled all the way down
so they wouldn’t bomb us, hone in on the little twinkle-
we were tucked in to the holler, the world so far away.

His voice brought it home, but it seemed we were always winning –
We were not prepared when they came back, broken and quiet.
I found out much later what PTSD was-self-medication,
taking a violent turn, despair, locked-in agony.

All I could do was duck and cover, keep my kids safe,
maintain a watchful eye, and get out when I could.

I was too young to serve in that far-away conflict,
but I labored in the home trenches for years.