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by Stephen Sossaman
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(after titles of W.S. Merwin poems)
The war
avoiding news by the river
losing a language in the night fields
learning a dead language in the night fields
Dogs’ fate
the rock under the black leaves
the wilderness turning to ashes before us
Caesar burning the mountains to wild ashes
My friends turning to ashes
natives, trees, palms
ash ash ash
Early one summer when the war is over—
waking to rain in a clearing
coming to the morning in the open
finally remembering words,
finally wanting to see the mountains,
the fields, the day itself, and light.
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Stephen Sossaman was an artillery Fire Direction Computer with the 9th Infantry Division in Vietnam. He lives in Burbank, California, and is a Professor Emeritus at Westfield State University in Massachusetts. His writing has appeared in Paris Review, Military Review, Southern Humanities Review, and elsewhere.
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