Faces We Lost In War

Faces We Lost In War
© Surazeus
2024 12 16

Those people who lose their faces in war 
wear masks of angels when they attend church, 
so I stand by the window of long years, 
and, with light of the angel in the sky, 
embrace map of the world no one can see 
that yields gardens where the dead go to sing. 

Tall maples on the ever-rolling hills 
still blaze crimson to show the empire dies 
with men who oppress people with their greed, 
releasing traumatized victims from fear 
so they can gather in silent snowfall 
and pretend nothing bad ever occurred. 

Young wife of Gabriel, older than the moon, 
cleans vast Cave of Illusions where they live, 
cooking meals of apples for him to eat 
while he records clear divine messages 
God wants him to relate with golden runes 
to prophets who guide kings on the right path. 

Each swan that rises from lake of lost dreams 
bears soul of one person killed in some war 
humans are always fighting to control 
their national narrative which defines 
the highest values of that hungry tribe 
who claim this land they conquered as their own. 

Sitting with pearl keys on the ocean shore, 
I try to decipher grammar of stones 
so I can translate sentences of waves 
to clever riddles only children solve 
because words I choose to describe the world 
reveal the type of character I am. 

I am not responsible for the hills 
for without my permission the trees grow 
and bloom with fruit that anyone can eat, 
and birds playfully fly in whistling light 
to prove they need no meaning to exist, 
yet ghosts of my dead friends scream in the mist. 

I build new house from carved mahogany 
to shelter lonely refugees from war 
who wander without purpose of false faith 
in city of mirrors to buy new dreams 
that fail to replace those lost in the war 
based on letters that conceal agony. 

I cast bright threads of psychic energy 
from dancing fingers of conceptual faith 
to weave new world map of hope from our dreams 
that we make real with how we play our roles 
to build city of mirrors with our eyes 
so we can find faces we lost in war.