Remembrance

[Carousel]

Remembrance


Quiet now
Night wind gentle on the killing grounds
Silent now
The guns have lost their appetite
~
Leftover life lingers in the yellowed earth
Pinned on a wire nest
The half-faced man embraces death as a lover
and the rats go about their business
~
Old men refill their glasses
Bend over their maps
Move the little flags forward
For the morning
~
The woman looks down at the child
Fingers the unopened telegram
The cross carvers are on overtime
So Mary will have her new dress.


A poem for the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month when the carnage ended.

Very few wars can excuse this tidal wave of slaughter.

[YesNo]

I wondered how someone embraces death like a lover and why would the killing fields be yellow?

[Carousel]

I wondered how someone embraces death like a lover
When death is the only relief from excruciating pain
and would you like to live with half a face?

Why would the killing fields be yellow?
Flanders fields were turned by shells into a morass of yellowed mud.

[Sospira]

Another poignant poem Carousel.

[Delta40]

We are willing to endure so much.