G-L-O-R-I-A

she came back from Iraq
with no legs

blown off by a roadside bomb
her best friend Celestino

lying in pieces
in and around the Humvee

Gloria had great thighs
in those volleyball shorts back in high school

her buttocks undulating so beautifully
as she jumped to block at the net

today in that same high school gym she smiles
sitting in her wheelchair in Army fatigues

while from a corner of her sweet mouth
a little sadness escapes onto the shiny floor