A Moment of Silence

A Moment of Silence

The gravity of mud
compels him down again
to the broken earth
another dull dog
wrong way up
in a river of shit
and spent casings

and now a shell lights up the line
and for a moment
falling snow, like pillow down
calls him back to fights
of long ago

attacks and cries of little boys
all rehearsing
without knowing
how their worlds would someday end

those boys, useful only as
they left their towns in droves
with cigarettes
and songs that brought more boys
to join the crowd
with cigarettes and songs

dreaming boys
unwakeable now
forgotten now, powder now,
scattered across the defiled
and unforgiving land
their roasted skulls
all filled with mud

he wakes from insect sleep
with his muscles on fire

a hundred yards away
wild laughs
German cat-calls promising
their hurricane of hot teeth
their quick science flying
to take his skin
scrape his bones
lay him out
like a woman
to die.

on his back, face up to the violet night
he feels some kind of change
believes he may have discovered
a completely new way
to look at the sky.