On the 3rd Anniversary of the
American invasion
of Iraq

POEM


In a London Park During Wartime/2004

In an oasis
Green with fragility
In the cross-fire of children shouting
An old man
His long coat heavy
His hands held tight and still behind his back
Drifts by my bench. And as he turns
In the late-day flaring, he seems to glow
Like a comet, trailing a frozen gaze
And an image –
Of a young man in khaki
Who seems to hug the earth -
From his choirboy mouth, soft amber sand
Emptying like an hour-glass.

(MS 2004)