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Contests : War Poetry Contest : Past Winners : 2003 : Richard Brostoff
WAITING FOR HIM
Fort Bragg, North Carolina
She watches
from the front brick steps
as the dogwoods and crepe myrtle
bloom in the receding air,
holding onto hope
like a blighted fruit
in the palm of her hand.
After all these years
still the hope,
with her three kids
and busted marriages,
and a little horde of children
scattered about Bahrain
by her husband's brief needs.
Still hope catches in her throat
like a small gold seed.
At dusk, near the base at Fort Bragg,
the F-15s etch silver outlines
in the darkening air,
stalking the night sky.
And at midnight the blue moon
lumbers into an empty sky,
as the leaves of the plum tree
unfold, hiding their tiny blossoms.
This poem was a finalist in the 2003 War Poetry Contest sponsored by Winning Writers. Copyright is reserved to the author.
About Richard Brostoff
Richard Brostoff is a physician who lives in the Boston area. He studied medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and went on to receive advanced training at Duke and Harvard. In 2000 he was awarded the grand prize at the AEI International Poetry Festival. In 2003 he was editor's choice for the Robert Penn Warren Award and a finalist for the Atlanta Review's International Poetry Award. His poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Berkeley Poetry Review, River Oak Review, Poetalk, White Heron, A Moving Journal, Odessa Poetry Review, Magma (England), Owen Wister Review, Eclipse, The Texas Review and The Anthology Of New England Writers. He also performs post-modern dance works with the groups Helix Rising and Playing Field, and has just completed a chapbook of poetry, Momentum.
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