Still With Me
You were saying, dear uncle,
when the doorbell rang?
Ah, yes. I wish you’d pay your bills
on time. Getting back:
the men who worked
behind those padlocked gates
we walked past yesterday
are mostly dead. Only the then
young apprentices who still hear
the thunder of the presses
as they walk past the rust-toothed
mouth can see the old heads drip
sweat and blood across the yard
as they run from flames and gas-
canister missiles. Screams
won’t let me sleep between
and , by then I’m
getting drunk with your father --
there’s the door, again.
when the doorbell rang?
Ah, yes. I wish you’d pay your bills
on time. Getting back:
the men who worked
behind those padlocked gates
we walked past yesterday
are mostly dead. Only the then
young apprentices who still hear
the thunder of the presses
as they walk past the rust-toothed
mouth can see the old heads drip
sweat and blood across the yard
as they run from flames and gas-
canister missiles. Screams
won’t let me sleep between
and , by then I’m
getting drunk with your father --
there’s the door, again.
