THROWBACK

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I saw a young man today, a photo of him    
kneeling, draped in the stars & stripes.  
 
I found him online and was struck by  
how he looks like my great-uncle David,  
 
who's image always intrigued me, and  
how he'd remind me of me: a throwback;  
 
dropped stitches in a quilt, the two of us,  
mismatched of the family, short & dark.  
 
Don't look familiar 'cept to each other,  
related by proxy, wishing he knew how  
much I've loved him even though he's gone.  
 
The first time I saw old photos of him,  
my little bird voice chirped, "He was so nice!"  
 
How did I know? his black & white grin,  
and pieces that family members had put in,  
 
of his place alongside kindred spirits,  
separated by generations, and bonded  
with scout pledges, and Schwinn bikes.  
 
I've always missed him because I know him,  
but, he couldn't wait that long for me.  
 
Something went so very wrong long before  
I came along too late, when time would sag.  
 
Overturning his world, the Pawtucket kid  
in a jeep, suddenly gets the news flash that  
 
the war's over, that they'd be sending him  
home, covered in a freshly draped flag.  
 
 
Copyright © 2016 Jade-Pandora. All Rights Reserved.  
 
Preview photo: original photo (circa 1928) from my grandmother's album (inherited by me) when she was a teenager, oldest 1st cousin to David, showing him with 1st cousin Henry (kid brother to my grandmother), posing with David's father, Charlie.  
 
Author's note:            
My great-uncle David, who served in the United States Army Corp, lost his life in 1945, just outside his base in France when his jeep hit a landmine, killing him instantly.  He has never been far from our family, so fun-loving was he, and no newborns to the family have ever been named David since.  It's like his name was retired, like the way the number for a football or baseball player on a team is retired - no other will replace him.            
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