Wednesday, March 29, 2006

THESE TIMES

by Ed Webb


Tottering with two full mugs of tea
Put the lightswitch out of reach:
Let it burn a while longer.

Of such things are the doom of the planet made.

Soldiers returning from the oil war eagerly feed their combat pay
into sleek, hungry toys
Which no one could wish to deny them.

At least this field of coffins will fully degrade.

The degraded dead keep on giving while the living idle,
Pouring death into a reddening sky.


Ed Webb is a former diplomat and a current trouble-maker living in Philadelphia, PA.