From Palermo the perfect
destroyers pass
these ashy islands
where the fires
of nature show
a random glow, and
turning to more
useful purposes propose
to Palmi and
to other
sleeping villages a
pure intent
whose bright
trajectory so changed
by circumstance
comes down to more
than pin-pricks
on a grid, or on this
two-foot plastic screen
a colder light.
© G. Stanley Koehler
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Happy Veteran’s Day, Dad. You are our hero!
Sleeping villages — pin-pricks on a grid — as perceived by the young U.S. naval officer about to order the bombardment.