Dead Soldiers

The sun is on the offensive
at dawn
strangling its way through
years of neglect
to reach its objective...
the man
in the bottle

...too late

Dead soldiers
wait on the table
before the bowed head
and topple for no reason
from green to brown
and brown to green
his head buried
in his arms

TO ARMS!
the dream voices cry
as he hears life from the
other side of war

RETREAT!
the dream voices say
as he hears the life
of a war for the
wrong reasons

DEFEND!
Defend what?
Nobody knows anymore
But a soldier's life
is given in love
for his country

He tries to rationalize
what happened
to his friends,
his brothers...
The sun is on the offensive
in early dawn
but a pack of Camels
and a Zippo
light the way
to dead soldiers
remembered

as they topple brown
green-
green - brown


...on the table.

His eye squints against
the dawn
as he lights another
and views the
devastation.