"Attention Al Asad" and "A Mother Remembers"

By Loretta Tobin

“Attention Al Asad”

I heard choppers approaching in the pre-dawn,
while burrowed deep in my sleeping bag.
The whumpa, whumpa, whump of rotor blades
chased away the cobwebs of sleep. The jarring

whirr washed over me, held me under
until I drowned in the sound, surrendered
without a struggle, without kicking or flailing
my arms to pull my head above the waves.

I knew no lifeguard would swim out to rescue
me. As the helicopters hovered, ready to land,
the vibrations grew more intense and I got up.
The base intercom crackled to life, “Attention

Al Asad. Attention Al Asad. This is the command
center, incoming wounded. All O-positive blood
donors report to the hospital. If you have O-positive
blood, come immediately.” I brushed my teeth,

pulled my boots on and rushed out the door
still buttoning my blouse. Then I stood in line
and waited. Soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen,
contractors, all O-positive donors, all waited.

46 donors gave, then it was my turn to be
poked and wait for the slow drip of my blood
to fill the one pint bag. I heard the doctors
used 49 units that day and it was a record.

”A Mother Remembers”

A mother placed her hand on the granite tombstone,
tracing along grooves that spelled her son’s name.
As she knelt to place a red rose on the grave, her knees
creaked, her back stiffened, her shoulder muscles

knotted. Before she placed the rose, she sniffed
its perfume, but wasn’t comforted. She felt detached
from herself, wondered if the overhead tree branch fell
on her, would it hurt? Still kneeling, she bent to pray

and her gray-streaked hair spilled forward, covering her face.
Tears blurred her vision, her nose ran and her head ached.
When the flood slowed, she reached in her pocket,
grabbed a tissue and blew her nose. And as it started

to rain, she had a vision of her 5-year old son splashing
in puddles, grinning with his face tilted up to the sky.

****

Loretta Tobin was born and raised in rural North Dakota. Her formal education started in a one-room school without running water. She graduated from Minnesota State University—Moorhead with a B.S.Ed. She lives in Everett, Washington with her husband. She is retired from the City of Everett and the U.S. Navy Reserve. Her Navy assignments included a tour in Al Asad, Iraq. She has two poems in Willowdown Books 2020 anthology, Poems from the Lockdown.