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.