a nice day

cup of tea
piece of wine
an herb
bring peace to me
in pieces one by one
farthing by farthing
i swallow myself
and time dilates
into two halves

beneath the trees
a speck of silver
liver waves on the river
mostly in peacetime
reading the paper
i divulge - there is the secret

plastic anemone
making music in me
bellevue in parchment
hometime marking time
the chairs on the table
the feathers in the air raid
squadron of pigeon
father of bigotry
the trees fatherless
motherless
childless paperless
salsify verdigris

i am opening a letter
from my mother
while the war rages on
inside is another letter
and another inside that
each report from
the front line
falls dismembered
into a chasm of
peace time