Judas’s Fate

One son fights in France, another for years in
New Guinea. A brother serves in the Balkans
advising the OSS. In a week or so, a nephew
will be out of hospital at last. He’s ordered
his wife, two daughters to dress always in black
as they knit soldiers socks, sweaters, warm caps.
Mornings, he reads the news. In the afternoons,
he listens to dispatches on the wireless.
Nights, he scans the skies for enemy planes.
Children have risen against their parents before,
brother has betrayed brother. But he will not flee
to an inland refuge. Let the bombs fall. Let no
housetop not burn to the ground. He abhors dawn.
It is more darkness the world is fighting for.

number 22 in the 2River Chapbook Series