i wake myself to recollect and reflect with others

i wake myself to recollect and reflect with others
this time of endless war
is it 4 years we endured aground in their Baghdad –
Waterloo – Gallipoli – Dunkirk –
emptying too many boots; filling so many coffins

War’s bloated and sour hourglass counts the finite and the endless
i wake myself against the comforts of home
leaving my old granny bed
because we agreed to recollect and reflect
and read the names of the dead who filled the coffins and left their empty boots and raw souls keening behind

The day of wrath has come and gone
No song No innocence.
and, now, we stand, mourners together behind our white roses
amid the traffic
naming grief and it’s outrage

So sorry to say your name, but, we are here, friend and
we say your name in Times Square

We call out names in the loud bright
to remember how dull war is

– Diane Dreyfus