Yr Name A Curse To Burn My Lips

Suddenly staring at a field of rock and rubble,
A cry for help balanced
Trembling on my tongue,
Turned on to the smell of burning bridges
And open wounds,
I recognized you and we laughed,
Laughed like the killers we were -
The war was over,
We were never going back.

As fire rained and angels raged,
I carved out a place for you among the stones
And laid you down -
(The feel of yr ruined flesh
Beneath my fingers
The dust settling in yr unblinking eyes) -
I buried you with yr boots on,
Yr weapon locked and loaded -
You were definitely going outside the wire.

When I’d finished,
I looked at what had become of you
And felt moved to speak,
To say something profane and blasphemous,
Something to open the gates of Hell,
Something I knew you’d dig –
But shrapnel had stolen my words
And all I could do
Was bleed on yr grave.

Later, when I awoke
On clean white sheets,
The nurses’ starched cammies
Whispering along the corridors,
I reached out for you.
Finding only my knife, I smiled,
Happier than I have ever been.

Knowing what we hath wrought,
What manner of fury and firepower
We had brought to bear on this
The cradle of civilization,
Knowing that you would be forgotten
And justice,
Finally,
Would be served.