Anchored to the sky
—high, so, so, high—
I watched my life slide by.
My ship broke rode,
and I was lost
in a starless sky
with no name.
And it rained.
And rained.
And rained.
I must
have drowned
a million
times,
trying to swim
my way back,
only to awake
a stranger to
myself
on a shore I once called home,
and in a body I once
called mine.
Jose Wilson served honorably in the United States Army, including a tour to Afghanistan from 2007-2008. He holds closely the value of service to others, but that principle no longer encompasses participating in wars. After transitioning from the military to civilian life, Jose struggled with addiction and mental health issues. He’s now over five years clean and remarkably stable from bi-polar 1 and PTSD, all while managing to graduate college with a degree in English from the University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, finally, in 2019. After all, that was why he had left the military.
