Lou J. Klaiber

AT THE WALL… 1999

I sat by the statue
of three Brothers

… gazed at the panels
descending into the Dark Valley

listened
to voices of children
and tour guides
explaining the war…

… parents telling children
the same
nothing
as everyone who was never
there.

I saw my hand beside a name
touching itself
in memory

Saw children’s faces
… and cameras
pointing at places
beside names that had died in that war
so long
ago

I saw a Brother
placing a small flag
and a pack of cigarettes
beneath a panel
of names

I wanted to comfort him
yet I could not

I saw his face

… saw

… that he

was me.