I NEVER GAVE THIS ASSIGNMENT
Last night,
     my first phone call from 
                     a student going off  

   to  war. “What books should I take?”
                          he asked me. Oh, I rattled 

on. It  seemed like an exciting field
                 trip, until

         he said good-bye, and thanked me 
for all that I had done to 

        “broaden” him. The  line grew quiet.
I fumbled

         for words, as if ambushed in an
  unguarded moment, with no
                escape routes
                                        from the
                       simple
                         
                               truth.


Thinking of Vince Martinelli
L-S ‘83/ West Point ’87/ Capt.,
Green Berets Afghanistan
August 19, 2002


All written material © Bill Schechter, 2016
Contact Bill Schechter
Website by Altolus Digital