azure letters

for Ashraf Osman

i will not have a grave stone
because by the time i die,
they'll have thought of something better.

i wish you could say the same,
but it's becoming clearer each day
that you are already dying.

one poet's wish after another
for peace and skies clear of white
from the dust of dead neighbors

goes swiftly unheard by all
but the well-groomed dog at your feet
and i, who can't possibly understand

the significance of real warfare.





inspired by Under Siege by Mahmound Darwish