the abbey…

fragments of the past
still remain for us to see
truth is nothing’s there
for all the lives that made it
have vanished into god’s dust

mementos…

cities
built
with the blood-soaked mortar
of its youth
high-rise tombstones
mark society’s grave
while
the graves
of the war dead
are placed
beyond
the city walls
marginalized in death
as in life
their
sacrifice
symbolically recalled
once a year
when
the chaos of death
is replaced with
designed tranquillity
a park-like environment
to ease the guilt
of the living
for what they’ve
permitted
their leaders
to steal
from the face
of the earth
life