You hitch-hiked across the countryside
Unearthing hidden histories of villages
Listening to the unheard answers to the questions asked – –
You drew the quizzical gaze of grazing cows
You waited for your concrete world to change
But every dawn brought death in different forms:
Bombs dropped, stabbings at the bridge, friendly fire,
A tower of flats burned inside out – –
So, at twilight, when the street lights finally awakened
At the crossroads where farmers exchanged their woes – –
Inhaling the fresh fragrance of remembered fields
You pulled out memories from your weather-beaten knapsack.
A pin-sharp poem delivered with the author’s inimitable aplomb.
Thank you very much, Louis.
beautiful bearing the burden of lost days,