I can hear bombs fall
aren’t you scared too Papa ?
yes but I will be with you always
you’ll be OK now sleep
he woke he found his father had told him the truth
he still lay cradled in his arms but they did not move
and his father did not speak
he searched out 2 embers still glowing from among the ghosts of war
and fashioned them as a cross
he lay that cross next to his father
his reasoning to keep him warm
even as such a good man lay cradled himself
molded by the clay from which all men are fashioned
he walked away he didn’t want to but he walked away
then he turned and said
don’t you know I have loved you like a father loves his son ?
it was snowing now and he was drawn back
as if his father were the magnet of his affections
and he arranged those words neatly in the snow as a libation
he found the last ember of war still smoldering
and placed it on his fathers heart like a laurel wreath
and prayed it would flicker and burn
as long as his own heart beat
Flynnpoetry 