The other war


That never happened
is curious
and alive-
the super dirigibles,
the jumbo jets and Roy
Lichtenstein in charge
of it all. And where

are you in all of this?
I've noticed you've
missed my fragmented
way of doing business,
or say, the
nice collection
of particles of sky plucked
when I was up there
last time—here this

one's as blue as
Navajo turquoise—
it tells stories,
likes your eyes,
tells me if you're
true enough.

And the last thing
in my plastic menagerie-
the war now inhabits
these jewels of experience
we've shared
all the way from
one home to another,
back when the summer
was a real twist, an opening
that made us glad
as cornflowers.