Poetics: Bold Tributes

“The five kings count the dead but do not soften
The crusted wound nor pat the brow;”
⁃ Dylan Thomas
from, ‘The Hand That Signed the Paper Felled a City’

 

No Longer Kings

 

When I asked about ‘the five kings’ they said
‘count the dead’ and then come back
so, I go quietly out ‘but do not’ look for
dead to count, instead I find a way to ‘soften
the crusted wound’ upon this fragile land
a song to sing to bless the ones who sacrifice
a word to mend the tear dividing brothers
not just to sooth the flame ‘nor pat the brow’
but open eyes and hearts and minds
a prayer that kings will leave their thrones
and we no longer need to count our dead