Box-Fresh

 

tourniquet the unknown war widow
as flags are folded in memoriam
for soldiers popped to orphan a casket..

imposing monuments loom
the fallen autumn leaves lightly smudge
the official line signed-off and vaulted..

anthems fulsome stir solemn empty
salt the desert a vast glisten
water the lake of tears a mirage..

veiled shells succumb
struck numb clutch those photographs
polish the frame of the finger-brushed glass..

solder base metal filigree
a sapling fashioned to nail a piece of earth
posthumously decorate with box-fresh toy animals..