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.