Broken – Page 20 – Iron Haiku

just another day
thoughts and prayers for the dead while
no one does a thing
–
a quiet morning-
evil flourishes
in the silence

open before me
the pages of my journal
blank and foreboding
–
onshore winds-
sand and shells
in the roiling surf

documenting war-
pages inked with the spilled blood
of the innocent
–
shimmering heat –
blood pools
in the desert sand

I can’t sleep at all
visions of the restless dead
inhabit my dreams
–
moon shadows-
a raven robed
in cobwebs

brown rivers swollen-
remnants of our prior lives
piled up in the streets
–
autumn sun-
in my living room
the black waterline

no one’s allowed in-
there’s only room for me in
this suit of armor
–
swift water-
armored scales
dimple the surface

I hit a doorknob
or tripped and fell down the stairs-
I’m just so clumsy
–
an autumn eve-
the sky lit by
a house on fire

sunday afternoon
on the line the week’s washing
left out in the rain
–
empty bottles-
even the baby
has stopped crying

crawling out of bed
passing by the hall mirror
my reflection gone
–
the dead of night-
awaiting your
invitation

a roadside vigil-
flowers for a young man turned
forever nineteen
–
sudden silence-
shell casings
in the grass