Central Asia Slipped into My Heart

 Central Asia slipped into my heart

sometimes when I wasn’t looking

at the horror

 

the still arid beauty

and brightly colored tribal clothing

almost hidden under burkas

 

in the starving face of every Taliban child soldier

I witnessed the determination of a people

to do more than just survive

 

in a field or hospital tent

warrior’s blood flowed through my hands

from both sides of the struggle

 

fiercely dedicated

to the mission

and art in their craft of conflict

 

not cold in frozen emotion

instead I saw

flaming blue heat

 

testament to

the fiery passion

of their conviction.

 

Could America burn through

this level of desperation

to plant hope and nurture dreams?

 

I return to the early morning quiet

back in the green wooded landscape

of my American home

 

but in a heartbeat

I am back there

in the burning dry air of summer

 

there is no way

I will ever completely

leave that place.

 

it has woven itself permanently

into every fiber of my being

and penetrated every cell.