take the queens shilling
drop it into a deep well
the lives of soldiers
Tag: war
2139
thanks for your service
old veteran smiles asking
who was he fighting
2027
more were sacrificed
in the snows of stalingrad
than in all your wars

2024
for our lost armies
for fleets never coming home
fire spangled night

1692
let our noble wrath
boil over them like a wave
we the people fight
(borrowed from a Russian anthem entitled “Sacred War”.)
1616π
big macs and shakes in
Ho Chi Minh Cityβ
we won after all
1471
where grasses grow best
green, thick, lush and tall
the mass graves are there
1431
a tiny cafe
in Hiroshima
a sun once burst here
1390
focus on coffee
try to unlisten
hundreds killed at mosque
1301
news update
we’re not yet nuclear ash
waiting for his tweet
1295
tall emerald grass
ripples without wind
men stalking men
1131
our war dead–
surfing and barbecuing
forgetting us
907
blue angels above
some cities have airshows
every day
820
fireflowers
splash the sky
enchantments of war
494
black banners, black holes
no light nor reason escapes
seasons of slaughter
ε εε
454
bodies bagged, blood mopped
everyone is buying guns
war breeds in our hearts
ε εε (rokuju roku)
410
ghosts in river smoke
drifting dogwood and bird calls
scraps of battle flags
330
over long decades
glass slivers dropped from her skin
tears of August 6
329/ tanka
in Hiroshima
on a tram at ground zero
overhead wires
short out– a ferocity
of light floods the crowded car
298
800 pages
of the Second World War– please
don’t spoil the ending