Armistice
Day, November 11, 1918
The
bells rang
the
ships in the harbor bellowed
factory
whistles blew
drivers
honked
the
lady on the ninth floor
stuck
her head out a window
and
banged pots together
strangers
teary-eyed
embraced
on the street
they
danced in City Hall Park
jammed
Times Square screaming
PEACE
IT’S
OVER
Who
will come back?
Who
won’t
Who
is whole?
Who
halt?
Now
they’re all talking together again
the
hun the bosch the wop the frog
the
limey the gingk the gook the red
the
yank the reb the yellow peril
reshuffling
regrouping
transposing
transforming
friend
to foe
foe
to friend
What
was learned?
How
to do it better
faster
that
was learned
Experts
never miscalculate
Never
never never
well
hardly ever
ask
them while it’s still smoking
The
next one always starts
like
the last one ended
Go
on from there
if
you can
Today
is Yom Kippur
for
everyone.