(Bertold Brecht)
Words are said
they start with an f
and fly into the shy
like a thread
trite
hackneyed
melt
refused
breath
tug-of-war
land of fear
while faces are smiling
War is at home
low intensity
Stop! everyone must be free
luggage
hearths
"We Never Know"
He danced with tall grass
for a moment, like he was swaying
with a woman. Our gun barrels
glowed white-hot.
When I got to him,
a blue halo
of flies had already claimed him.
I pulled the crumbed photograph
from his fingers.
There's no other way
to say this: I fell in love.
The morning cleared again,
except for a distant mortar
& somewhere choppers taking off.
I slid the wallet into his pocket
& turned him over, so he wouldn't be
kissing the ground.
(Yusef Komunyakaa)
space
metre
route
land
deep