The Aztec Empire 3 -- The Barn Swallows 5 -- The Movers 7 -- Letters 10 -- The Book of Secrets 12 -- The Warrior 14 -- In a Time of War 18 -- Dream of the Lost Son 21 -- Kill School 25 -- Waiting 27 -- One Week Before Deployment 31 -- Thetis 43 -- Mourning in Sadr City 47 -- Home on Leave 48 -- He Tells Each Story 51 -- School for Commandos 52 -- A Walk Through the Seventh Regiment Armory 54 -- Cab Ride to Chelsea 56 -- The Worst Thing 57 -- Christmas Dinner with my Son in Arlington Heights 58 -- E-Mail from a Secret Location in Iraq: re: The Puppies 63 -- Time Out 66 -- The Powerlifter 67 -- Thor 69 -- Incommunicado 72 -- Collisions 74 -- Four Fragments from the Hall of the Madonnas 76 -- The Canal 78.
Summary
A memoir in verse about a mother's struggles with her son's two tours of duty in Iraq is told through twenty-eight poems that cover their difficult goodbyes and the poignancy of waiting while a loved one is in danger.
