"Dog Tags" by Matt Borczon
my 13
year old
son drops
my dog
tags on
the table
asking
if he
could have
them when
I tell
him they
are issued
and still
a part
of my
uniform
he is
unhappy
at the
realization
that this
means no
13 is
a funny
age he
is just
becoming
aware of
what it
meant when
I was
deployed
his class
sends care
packages
to soldiers
in the
country I
was in
and he
has heard
people
thank me
for my
service
so he
now thinks
it makes
me somebody
other than
the dad
who left
him for
almost
a year
without
an explanation
he is
just old
enough to
understand
I did
something
most dads
never do
but still
too young
for me
to explain
how much
it didn't
mean anything
at all.