When war was declared,
I hurried towards home;
on the way, there was just the one
grocery shop open,
but with little on offer:
mushrooms, onions, bread
and vodka. I had no
fish, no salad, no eggs,
no biscuits, no butter,
no wine. And how long
would we be shut up,
under military law?
*
Dark blue girders,
framework – the
blue broken. With rust.
Did I even know
who we were at war
with? My head
under the bed covers most of the time,
due to depression.
*
Mutual tolerance
often hid mutual distrust,
even loathing. “I respect
your views” could indeed mean “I’ll
tolerate your views…
until I don’t need to
anymore. Then
let’s see.” When
we did see, there was nothing
to hold people together.
Tolerance had often meant
repressed hatred.
*
Violence is the greatest
panacea, not
religion. Religion,
properly understood,
is not a panacea at all.
White doorway. Birds
plummet. Black soil,
names obliterated.
*
Are there bullet holes
in the walls? There
are bullet holes
in the walls. Television
transmissions
increasingly meaningless.
Radio babble,
followed by silence,
followed by babble,
and then again silence…
And then
no transmissions at all.
*
My neighbours next door
clearly can’t
stand me. Nor
I them.
I still have my recordings
to listen to:
until the electricity
goes.
And then all my immediate neighbours
become malefic.
*
No more vodka. I
have indeed
run out of vodka.
I’ve run out of food.
The water supply
has been cut off.
No more
anything.
*
What understanding
was there? Superficial. To
engage more deeply? The
very notion was deemed
outdated, superfluous, in a
world of mere surfaces
and proliferating
likenesses.
*
Roads were closed.
Bridges were closed.
Airports
were closed.
*
If rubble, indeed
rubble.
And our belongings –
rubbish. What else
would our homes be reduced to?
Destruction follows destruction,
regardless
of what else.
*
Then there’s a knock
at the door. Against
my better judgement
I’ll open it – indeed what
could I possibly lose? Nothing;
nothing at all. And perhaps
something to gain. Or
to give; however little, indeed.
Perhaps I’ve mistrusted others
too much. Otherwise? Yes, then otherwise.
.
David Miller
.