sometime they’ll give a war

Sometime They’ll Give a War

The whole
thing is
coming apart
at the seams.

 

How can
something
once so dear
become a
death knell
in the
present —

 

Daddy on
the top
rung of
the ladder,
hanging the
Christmas angel;

 

The sled &
doll &
the catcher’s
mitt under
the tree.

 

These were
the truths
we held
self-evident.

 

These were
the things
the flag
symbolized &
we’d march
off &
die for.

 

We fought
a different
war than
they sent
us to.

 

“Sometime
they’ll give
a war
& nobody
will come…”*

*Carl Sandburg,
The People, Yes

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