You think there is a time
For going back
A way of looking over
Shoulders
Seeing the past
And figuring it all out
Accounting for the loss
The losses
A time to measure
To recalibrate
To understand
Grief
But it is all just lost
To the lords and ladies of time
They are dancing in a room
Without you
You can look behind
To the side
Up, down
Askance
But it is a dance
A slow summer waltz with demons
Only you can see
The past
But most often
It is best to shut it out
Close your eyes
Look away
Because the losses are
Enormous
And real
Be true and honest
The incalculable number of coffins
Hang your head
Look carefully at your hands
Your hands
Look at your hands
Are they stained
Or are you imagining
It
Did you dream
It
Wake in the nightmare
Before
Or after
It
It is real
It happened
But its easiest not to look
To look away
Askance
That slow summer dance
When you think of
Before
That was just different
Different
A different day
Downtrodden
We the foot soldiers
Tired and weary of war
Have to look
Forward
We have to soldier on
Like men with guns
Shuddering in the wake of the bullets
And the bombs
There are no guns here
If there were
We might turn them on
Ourselves
They tell us
Its not so bad you see
We all wake to a brand new day
We’ll move ahead
But in a different way
Look forward
Not back
Look ahead
It’s a bright new day
A different way
But we can’t look ahead
We can only look away