Air Born
a portajohn in Kyrgyzstan
one of my favorite pieces of graffiti:
Toodles, Afghanistan
our chartered airplane followed the great circle west
over territory I didn’t recognize
a long sweep of coastline
probably The Maritimes
the sun gleamed down
through the severe clear
over the St. Croix
between Maine and Canada
reversing waterfalls are nearby
one direction when the tide flows
and the other when it ebbs
I knew where I was then
over the White Mountains
tiny from the air and
vast in my memory
my Limmer boots walked over
forty-eight peaks
I saw my birthplace
I tapped my friend on the shoulder
in the seat in front of me
I pointed down
with a war hangover and said
I was born there
Littleton
we slid across the northern tier
over the Upper Peninsula
over the old runways
he pointed down
I was born there
Kincheloe
faces plastered to the window over the
places we appeared by accident
***
Eric “Shmo” Chandler is a husband and father who cross-country skis as fast as he can in Duluth, Minnesota. He flew 145 combat sorties in the F-16 during seven trips downrange. His work has appeared in Sleet Magazine, The Talking Stick, O-Dark-Thirty, Aqueous Magazine, Great Lakes Review, Grey Sparrow Journal, and Northern Wilds, to name a few. Visit ericchandler.wordpress.com to read his published fiction, non-fiction, books, and poetry.