Dead [from Constellations in December]

      What has life's bitter disappointment brought 
      Laid in a narrow, breathless bed? 
      Shall we curse all our drunken, muddy lot 
      Lain with long bones of the dead? 
5      
      At the end of a rifle or parting stream 
      Pursued by a pursuing dream 
      Man wakes up to find his enemies again, 
      The end of dreams, and all friends dead. 
10     
      What stays hid in the marrow there, 
      Thrust deep underground? 
      Things purposed in the unpurposed air 
      Die when those men are dead. 
15     
      Whether father or brother still pursue 
      Their work, or others' work, I do not know; 
      I read it on a narrow, upright stone 
      Cast by the long bones of the dead. 
20     
      Fathers sacrifice long_loving sons 
      To a nameless, breathless bed; 
      Stand we under an island sun 
      Or lie with long bones of the dead?

 

From the collection "Constellations in December"

Written by Gregg Glory [Gregg G. Brown]

More information available on gregglory.com.