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Best Poems From
LAURENCE OVERMIRE
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445.
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The Wake of a Dream
I watched as the dream fell to earth
Shot down by fate
It fluttered in the breeze
As if to catch one last gust of breath
To carry it homeward
But it was not to be.
It landed in a field of barren hopes
Quite inconspicuously
Stirring the wasted years for a brief moment
Before settling into the dust of oblivion.
I toss the flowers where the tears have dried
Trying to forget and trying to remember
But time is not kind to the tombstone of regret
The memories etched with such dramatic blade
Fade like an epitaph too long exposed
Till all sense and feeling is blurred
An incomprehensible wash of wind and rain.
(Previously published in Pittsburgh Quarterly Online, Jan.2000)
Laurence Overmire
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446.
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The Wall
How many years
A city, a country, a people sliced in two
Look back
Upon a simpler time
When brother met brother
Sisters court with sons
Mothers made of daughters
Fathers to us all
Look back
Before the barbed wire
And the guns...
Before the swords
Arrows, spears...
Before clubs made of wood...
Or jagged rocks...
Before...?
Who are we
That thrive in isolation
Nations divided by walls
Men divided by choice.
(Previously published in Ygdrasil, Nov.1999)
Laurence Overmire
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447.
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The Warning of Tombstones
If force is your weapon of choice
Be prepared to completely obliterate your opposition
Anything less will be insufficient
To stanch the hatred of those
Who yet live in resistance
Pouring from their wronged souls
So much blood
The Earth itself will groan in rage
For retribution
No right is given the aggressor
Wrong commits wrong
Choose wisely, whatever peaceful mean
Is given, take
Only in defense, prepare to kill
Your children.
(Previously published in Poets Against the War Anthology, Feb 2003)
Laurence Overmire
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448.
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The Warrior
The warrior continues to fight
Though his body be riddled with wounds
Desperately clinging to the last breath of life
He gives all that he has
The objective worth
The sacrifice
Only death to raise the cry of victory
Or yield the white flag of surrender.
(Previously published in Zinos, July 2000)
Laurence Overmire
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