The battle is won or lost,
never over, perpetually replayed
with resurrected dead heroes,
as we revel in the tempests
of our travails.
But in the battle for the planet
there are no winners,
only losers,
as we burn the future
and fiddle our feckless tunes.
There will be no reenactment,
for what field or country
is big enough to stage it?
What hymns or words
strong enough to emote
the horror of our inaction?
There will be no
resurrection, no
revel in the tempest.
This poem first appeared in the collection Death at the Mall (Kelsay Books).
—
Gene Twaronite is the author of five poetry collections. His first poetry book, Trash Picker on Mars, was the winner of the 2017 New Mexico-Arizona Book Award. His latest poetry collection is Death at the Mall (Kelsay Books). Follow more of Gene’s writing at: genetwaronitepoet.com.
