A Message for Raven

He held her picture
in his hand
Died in the battleground
Song of Solomon


His eyes looked skyward by night
glazed and bright

Life is so much dying
so many different ways
He remembers her taste
His breath leaves him at last


Then silence
His last moment
And she is there

She was there
She will always be there
And now
He is gone


When she gets the message
in her doorway
it comes by soldier

And she hits the ground
with both knees
her body collapses
into a circle to Zion
the world spins beneath

The soldier touches her cheek
Then leaves


Her eyes look skyward
tears like diamonds

And after the sadness passes
she hates him

Leaving her here alone
Two children
And a home

A Salem coven
building within the seven gables
of a private hell


And just like that
her hear turns to stone

No more feeling
No more love
No cellphone
No long road

The simple chord
of a song
unfolds
to cover the world

In shades of black
from which no wingbeat can be heard
from which nothing can be said
nothing to be done

But simply
to take the hand of her son
to look into his face

And be strong