Yours Truly 2016 / Cascadia College / Bothell, WA | Page 33

She remembers he came by one last time to ask if she’d go for a ride
on the motorcycle.
Early January, before she left for college.
Maybe his father gave him the bike for graduation; Son, it’ll be here,
when you come home.
She remembers not asking permission, but her mother ran out anyway
hearing the engine rev.
Ken, her high school classmate, drafted into the Marines, Vietnam War.
Hairpin turns, oncoming traffic; cars pulling over for them.
Walls of dark trees block the light, Pacific madrone, Douglas fir and
sequoia.
Evergreens reach out to them; branches divvy up the rays into angular
pieces, shards, fragments.
She remembers the glare that stings her eyes, turning away to lean
against his back, rough wool against wind-burnt skin.
The ocean promontory, low gear to San Gregoria, wind gusts, sandpiper
tracks at low tide.
She remembers learning his full name for the first time, Kenneth William
Claire, as they stood in her front yard. No words. Only the gesture of
his hands. The letter opening.
Train whistles downtown as she reads, You are hereby ordered for
induction. Then he refolds the letter and stuffs it into his rear jeans
pocket.
Falling strands of his hair. Torn envelope. Kenneth William. Report for
the autumn day. Induction, sky blue.

Ocean: Denise Calvetti Michaels
Scenes of Remembrance

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