On The Train After World War II*

by Doug Draime

The returning soldiers
pinned their medals
on my striped jersey t-shirt.
It was in 1946
when I was three,
on the
train ride
from Indiana
to Pennsylvania
after my mother died,
according to my aunt.
She said I ran
up and down the aisles
like the smiling kid on the
Cracker Jack box,
doing a little dance for them.
They even bought
me a hot dog,
a Pepsi, and a bag
of peanuts. I often wonder
what happened
to all those medals.
Though, I know if I’d kept
them into adulthood,
I would’ve had to
have hocked them
years ago.


*from Doug's chap "Knox County" from Kendra Steiner Editions