Lou J. Klaiber

THUNDER AND RAIN AND THE RUST OF WAR

The river moves to the sea,
as thunder rolls,
and the sky turns its face away
from the Sun.

The dark wind is haunting my memory.

Boats return to shore
as a gray curtain gathers the sky,
and rain falls upon us all.

Suddenly
… alone…!

I remember them.

Just boys who stayed
in the storm and thunder of it all.

Soldiers!

Men with steel in their eyes,
who lived,
or died,

… and then,
just went away from it all.

… just went away forever
from the hard memories
… of rain and thunder

and the dark red rust
of war.

Alone
by the river…

… this river.

I remember them all.