We Never Know by Yusef Komunyakaa
He danced with tall grass
for a moment, like he was swaying
with a woman. Our gun barrels
glowed white-hot.
When I got to him,
a blue halo
of flies had already claimed him.
I pulled the crumbed photograph
from his fingers.
There’s no other way
to say this: I fell in love.
The morning cleared again,
except for a distant mortar
& somewhere choppers taking off.
I slid the wallet into his pocket
& turned him over, so he wouldn’t be
kissing the ground.
This year, in reflecting on the fourth year of the nation’s current operations in Iraq, the Library is focusing its observance of National Poetry Month on the poetry of war. On display are select resources witnessing the tributes, grief, horror, and remembrances of generations of poets, from the Homeric era to our present day conflicts. In addition to print sources, more information and online access to poets and works can be found at these links below.
- Academy of American Poets
- Poets Against War
- The War Poetry Web Site
- International War Veterans Poetry Archives
