I guess I always knew
Right from the start
That we risked the wrath
Of the Warlords,
Of the Taliban,
In this country which I now called home. 
And I guess I always knew
That one day they would come
Angry and embittered,
Feeling threatened by the foreign bitch, 
And that that day would change my life forever.
A day of reckoning. 

And I was right. 
They did come. 
Because I/ we defied them
By educating children -
Young girls -
In our school. 
Numbers and language
And art and beauty -
Against their express orders -
Against their interpretation
Of our holy writings. 
With their strength and guns
Giving them the right to be our
Judge and executioner. 

Religious bullies to the extreme. 

That day did change my life
Forever. 
But I never would have thought -
How could I ? -
That it would be for the better. 

Because that was the day that I met you. 

You came into my life
Like the calm in the eye
Of a very real storm -
A hail of bullets -
A cloud of brick dust -
A world of screaming girls. 
And you took control. 
As we cowered behind our makeshift barricades
Under your protection. 

Your clothes -
Desert combat military,
Union flag on sleeve. 
Your demeanour -
So masculine. 
Your command -
So total - drilled into you. 
Your instructions
Carried out with precision
By your men. 
Without question. 
Protect the children -
Repel boarders!
Your voice barked crisp yet warm. 
Such a sexy accent. 

You saved the children that day,
You and your men. 
From the barbarians
Who would have killed them
For daring to dream. 
And I can never thank any of you
Enough. 
Truly. 

You turned the hail of bullets
Back at them. 
Those evil men. 
Who had come
Seeking to show the world
That they held the moral high ground,
Shared the will of Allah.
The divine right. 
To massacre ten year old girls
And their female teachers. 
What kind of a man is that?

All foiled by a patrol
That turned the wrong corner
At the right time. 
Four soldiers. 
Each with different skills
And tools. 
The perfect four
For the job they took on. 
Timed perfectly as the terrorists approached the school ......

I like to think that it
Was Allah's will
To send you that way. 
And that he listened with pleasure
To the screams of the dying. 
As shot by shot
The barbarians retreated. 
When they realised 
That these children had
Guardians that day. 

And I hope they each questioned
As they died. 
Whether or not they truly
Had right on their side. 

We hid when we heard shots
Not knowing until later
That they were yours. 
Assuming other. 

And I watched you,
As I protected my girls 
First up-close with your handgun
Then along with your spotter -
Your huge long-barrelled rifle
Pushing the bastards back
Four, five, six hundred yards,
As the metal jacket casings
Hit the floor
One by one. 
And another terrorist
Followed by yet another
Hit the beige sandy dirt. 

And finally, when the bullets stopped
And you came to where we cowered,
To release us from our terror. 
Tall and proud
And concerned for our well-being -

Then I saw
That I was wrong in my presumption. 
And like a mist being removed
From before my eyes
In slow motion,
I saw past your uniform
And the dust
And your military accessories
And noticed the slight roundness
Of your hips. 
The pinch of your waist. 
The heft of your breasts. 
The calm in your eyes,
The sharpness of your cheekbones,
The fullness of your lips -
And the calmness that you exuded
Centred in my heart. 
At the same time that the butterflies
Invaded my stomach
And lower. 
And I had to brace as my knees went weak. 
And I knew that I had found you,
The one that I dreamed of.
The one that I practised for
Alone, and with others,
And I smiled. 
And touched you. 
Touched your shoulder gently. 
In the middle of chaos. 
And you blushed, confused. 
And you blinked, and again. 
And I smiled inside
As my soul melted. 
And I knew that I wanted you. 
Only you. 

But that you had yet to work it out. 
Though I had sensed your spirit. 

And I knew in that moment that I would wait for you. 

And then with a cry 
You fell. 
Crumpled. 

And a sharp echo of a distant gun rumbled in the silence. 

And I didn't hear
The reply from your men
As I held pressure to your side
And prayed 
That you would not slip through my fingers. 
Not after I had only just found you.

To be continued ....