He fell in Afghanistan
Sometime the day before
The Major from the New Mexico National Guard
couldn't find my house
and it was a stormy night in Albuquerque
So we talked by cell phone instead--
No dress uniforms at my door--
It was a clean three shots
Straight through the heart
He was dead before he hit the ground
The Major was a father himself he said
I could hear his kid behind the phone
I could see my own son reaching up to his dad
The Major called back later
The government could fly me
the Major said
to the Dignified Transfer at Dover base
I asked where that was
The Major said he thought it was maybe in Indianapolis
But he wasn't sure exactly where
I looked it up on Google and found
It is at Dover Delaware
Far from New Mexico
Far from here
I don't know where he is
I know he is beautiful there
[This poem is about Nevin's son, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2013.]