Poem For Daniel

Mariah

A scent assails her senses,
a redolence from long ago
bursts into vivid
canine memory:
She is lying next to him
inside a sleeping bag,
her nose nuzzled
into his neck.

Must search—
But not for bombs
this time.
She crouches and tracks
as she has been trained,
zigzags through
the rock concert audience.

She remembers:
He is carrying her
through fierce wind
and stinging sand,
her face buried
inside his flak jacket.

Must search—
She has not forgotten
their time in Afghanistan,
the hunts
for buried explosives.

Must search—
The crowd of concertgoers
steps aside
to let her through.
Her sense of him
grows stronger.

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