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<p><strong><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2893" src="https://rockthepigeon.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/afghanistan.jpg" alt="afghanistan.jpg" width="1600" height="768" /></strong></p>
<p>&#8220;Leave Again&#8221; A Poem Milo Palomo</p>
<p>To dad:</p>
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<div dir="auto">August the perfect ten, here to send you off again.</div>
<div dir="auto">Broken, yearning for more open,</div>
<div dir="auto">conversations.</div>
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<div dir="auto">45 mins and 38 seconds, to imagine not loving you.</div>
<div dir="auto">God forgive the things we&#8217;ve done, to imagine loving you.</div>
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<div dir="auto">Leave again, we haven&#8217;t hugged in ten?</div>
<div dir="auto">I hear, August is the perfect ten, here to send you off again.</div>
<div dir="auto">Broken, crying for we.</div>
<div dir="auto">The people cry for peace.</div>
<div dir="auto">You work so hard for me.</div>
<div dir="auto">I want peace, stay home, let&#8217;s see.</div>
<div dir="auto">The people cry for peace.</div>
<div dir="auto">Your own child can&#8217;t convince you of your intelligence.</div>
<div dir="auto">Work for the department of defense, I don&#8217;t question your intelligence.</div>
<div dir="auto">There is a question of intent.</div>
<div dir="auto">You work so hard for me.</div>
<div dir="auto">Your own child can&#8217;t convince you of your intelligence.</div>
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<div dir="auto">I&#8217;m not convinced of my own intelligence.</div>
<div dir="auto">I work so hard for you, sanity that often twists.</div>
<div dir="auto">This love of earth, art, and sex.</div>
<div dir="auto">No longer funneled into another&#8217;s love of a scared text.</div>
<div dir="auto">I love your God, he makes you happy.</div>
<div dir="auto">I love you dad, one day come see me.</div>
<div dir="auto">I&#8217;ve prayed to your God, he makes me happy.</div>
<div dir="auto">I love you dad, no shame in weeping.</div>
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<div dir="auto">Written by Milo Palomo</div>
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<p><strong>Author Bio</strong>: I grew up in a fundamentally religious family, my father was raised Catholic and my mother, I believe, was raised Protestant. Not quite sure if you could call me a &#8220;military brat,&#8221; though I was born on Army installation called Fort Polk in Louisiana. We only moved around a couple of times while I was really young, but I&#8217;m the only person in my immediate family and often seemingly my extended family, that didn&#8217;t join some branch of military. After being outted as a sophomore in high school (2009) as the lesbian, my father only conversed with me about scripture. At the time it was heartbreaking to talk about nothing else with my dad but &#8220;my sins&#8221; and &#8220;the punishments for my sins.&#8221; Certainly feeling the deviant stigmatization while growing up. Soccer (fútbol) was my outlet and if there was hope to connect with my dad about something other than scripture, it would be a match on the pitch. I played varsity ball for my 4 years in high school while playing for club, and getting to experiencing Iowa ODP (Olympic Development Program) camp for 3 years. I knew my father was proud of my work ethic on the field and that&#8217;s what I held onto, even while my grades suffered throughout high school. After I finished playing my 1st and only semester of collegiate ball for Butler Community College women&#8217;s soccer team, I changed my name, and had top surgery. Not really thinking about when I&#8217;d find myself on the pitch again. Currently, I live in Portland, Oregon and I&#8217;m receiving honors for the work I&#8217;m getting done in the classroom at Portland Community College and have my eyes set on tryouts for the PCC men&#8217;s soccer team. I&#8217;m beyond grateful for the opportunities I&#8217;ve experienced and the more meaningful conversations I&#8217;m having with my dad; while tapping into a love for poetry and writing that I wasn&#8217;t so sure was inside me all along.</p>
<p>Follow Milo:</p>
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<div class="gmail_extra">Instagram: pilo_thegr8</div>
<div class="gmail_extra" dir="auto">Twitter: @MiloPalomo</div>
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<div dir="auto"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2892" src="https://rockthepigeon.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/20180504_173038_hdr-e1525500178125.jpg?w=1002" alt="20180504_173038_hdr.jpg" width="501" height="876" /></div>
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