Arlington
Half a million soldiers laid to rest
one of them my father
who I didn’t have the luxury of knowing quite well
The white headstones spaced perfectly apart
sprinkled along pristine grounds
ninety degrees and feels like one hundred twenty
his urn carved rosewood
ornate silver trim
someone put thought into it
rows and rows of headstones
so many the names blur together
I asked her before she died
was there anything she wanted to tell me
some foreboding suspicion played its hand
and she declined
All those men and women who served America
the world is big - but not that big
Arlington holds over a thousand acres of the dead
and today my father rests with his brothers of war
She never told
cards get dealt
The gun salute is now
three rounds
three plays
the quiet afterwards feels eternal
If I didn’t take that DNA test I’d never have known
the connection one hundred percent
DNA doesn’t lie
that was the dealer’s facedown card
couldn’t see it coming
There’s a hawk gutting its kill
behind a perfectly preened cherry tree
I dropped the rose accidentally
I was always a klutz
The day went down around me
in slow motion
If I was the outlier in this
I didn’t see it
I only saw the names and ranks
of hundreds of thousands
just another soldier’s kid
attending a burial in the brutal heat of Arlington
The cards weren’t real
just the DNA
About the Author: Donna Dallas has appeared in a plethora of journals, most recently Beatnik Cowboy, Horror Sleaze Trash and Fevers of the Mind. She is the author of Death Sisters, her legacy novel, published by Alien Buddha Press. Her first chapbook, Smoke and Mirrors, launched in 2022 with New York Quarterly. Her second chapbook, Megalodon, launched in 2023 with The Opiate. Donna has served on the editorial team of Red Fez and NYQ. donnaanndallas@gmail.com @DonnaDallas15
Image Credit: Carol M. Highsmith “Spring at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia” Public domain image courtesy of The Library of Congress
As It Ought To Be 