As suddenly as such a war,
steam signals over our coffee cups—
set on white cloth in tremors of shade—
become propitious: sentries begin
to joke in my village, laugh in yours.
Ambassadors toss old writs to the wind.
Peasants bear laundry down to the river.
Trade routes reopen, crowded with wagons.
-
A truce
This article originally appeared in The New Criterion, Volume 15 Number 8, on page 36
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