A Poem Against War

---

Near the band shell are Elms planted

for heroes of a forgotten war.

The trees create a thick canopy.

It’s cool.  No grass grows.

A narrow path is pounded out by joggers

who pass never noticing the plaques filled with names.

A child might say this place is haunted.

I only feel its sadness.

Young men who fought and died

never knowing what it is to live.

I walk here each day.

My pace quickens at its dark center.



© Karen Karpowich

---