Frances Wiedenhoeft
Lamentation, Iraq 2008
I have never met you; you were not on my street
our children never played together
my skin never touched yours
always a thin blue, non-latex glove
between us.
I cupped your cheek gently in my hand
held your eyes on mine
lifeless or terrified, panicked, resigned,
or otherwise
my gaze was the bridge, my braided vine of connection
with a murmur in your ear, hush.
My breath for your breath
my life for yours
joined until we save you
or I let you go.
MST
MST- (Military Sexual Trauma)
Body slams against concrete wall
MWR- (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) building
forearm across throat crushes hard
M-16- (Rifle) clatters to the floor
reed thin breath against relentless force
GI- (General Issue) soldiers gather around
snake bite breast, searing thighs
USC- (Unwanted Sexual Contact)
“You don’t belong here” animal groan
SES- (Survivor Experience Story)
not reaching for weapons, no whisper, no cry,
SARC- Sexual Assault Response Coordinator
suppress the story, only way to survive.
NMJ- No Military Justice.
“‘Lamentation, Iraq 2008’ was forged from kneeling beside a hundred war battered Iraqis, soldiers, old and young on the helipad and crouching over a hundred gurneys or cupping a hundred faces in my hands at the head of an operating table. At that moment I gave myself fully to each individual patient. The intimacy of the act is described in the poem.
‘MST’ explores the world of military sexual trauma through the lens of personal experience rather than 3rd person attempts to capture the essence of the event. The poem can be read from left to right so that the reader sees what externally is happening followed by a close-up which is more felt and heard. It can also be read as column one, the external events, followed by column two, with the final futility felt by a victim in the military that anyone will stand with them or for them if they speak out.” —Frances Wiedenhoeft
Frances Wiedenhoeft is a mother, grandmother, poet and writer. Her work can be found in in the Ariel Anthology, Praxis Magazine Online, the American Journal of Nursing, the Deadly Writers Patrol, The Adelaide Review Literary Magazine, Veteran Voices Magazine and Collateral Journal. She is a twenty-two-year Army veteran who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Desert Storm. When not at her writing desk or cooking up something delicious for her family, she can be found hiking the wilds of Wisconsin’s Ice Age Trail. She volunteers as a reader for the Gemini Review.
