Winter Roadstead

Checkpoint seven. Frost on the wire.

Your photo sleeps. The kettle clicks.

The radio burns. Dawn comes pale.

Keep the lamp on.

Keep one chair.

I may come back.

I may not.

Mountain road. Dust and sun.

We told jokes.

We watched trucks. Some came home.

Keep the lamp on.

Keep one chair.

I may come back.

I may not.

A boy sings.

Three wrong chords.

Tell him this:

He is not wrong.

Boot prints fade.

Names go quiet.

I hear your voice.

The barracks stand alone.

Keep the lamp on.

Keep one chair.

I came back.

My heart stayed there.

Checkpoint seven.

Morning on the wire.

Your photo stays.

I can sleep.