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[seamusd.livejournal.com]

Yusef Komunyakaa

We Never Know

He danced with tall grass
for a moment, like he was swaying
with a woman. Our gun barrels
glowed white-hot.
When I got to him,
A blue halo
Of flies had already claimed him.
I pulled the crumpled photograph
From his fingers.
There is no way
To say this: I fell in love.
The morning cleared again,
Except for a distant mortar
& somewhere choppers taking off.
I slid the wallet into his pocket
& turned him over, so he wouldn't be
kissing the ground.

(from Dien Cai Dau. Hanover, NH: Wesleyan University Press, 1988.)

Comments

[neonandchrome.livejournal.com]

This reminds me of The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien.