Making It- Midway (A Movie Poem)

Stella remembers when

the Zeros flew thru her backyard

and she saw Pearl Harbor in flames,

blue bodies bouncing on the waves.

–

Afterward, welders melted

the steel of capsized destroyers

hoping to rescue any

upside down survivors.

–

Her Billy drafted six months before

would fly Wildcats in the Marshall Islands

and in the Coral Seas never losing a gunner.

–

At Midway he launched from the Enterprise,

into a fury of collapsing sea foam and mist

part of the 233 fighter planes of

the sleeping giant squadron

filed with a terrible resolve.

–

The Zero bullets ricocheted

around the open back cabin

and Billy heard the loud groan

and Mike fall asleep as he

flew on through the fog

of exploding red mushrooms.

–

He returned safely home to Stella

wrapped in metals and the flag.

She knew from that day that

Zeros would darken her every sky.