NORMANDY

He had big plans. 
At 19, 
he had his life before him. 
First and foremost, 
when he had finished serving, 
he was going to marry 
his high school sweetheart. 
They had been holding hands 
since seventh grade. 
But a bullet  
ended his life 
as bullets have ended 
millions of lives. 

It's something bullets do.
Before the sand sucked him 
into its maw, 
his fellow soldiers 
collected his body, 
dug a hole and buried him. 
There was an enemy to fight. 
No time for pomp and circumstance. 
None of his family members 
visited his grave. 
How could they? 
They didn't know where 
he had been
unceremoniously deposited. 
Did he ever exist 
or was he nothing more 
than a brief coincidence? 
The girlfriend cried 
disconsolately for weeks
after learning of his death. 
A year later she married.