Educating the War

by R.T. Castleberry / January 21st, 2024

Moon smeared in a dusty sky,
cadaver dogs hunt the hillsides.
Through a heat holiday–
death anniversaries random
as a news chyron,
I teach a chapter from
the new border anarchist;
I talk summer to my wife.
She clips stories of
the coming desolation,
plans our packing and
the exile airplane tickets.
Raising future arguments,
I work from my desk, lesson folder
filled with messages of compromise,
of historical cowardice and complicity.
Like punctuation in conversation,
a Medevac clears the treeline.
War rolls like a ghost car siren.

R.T. Castleberry, a Pushcart Prize nominee, has work in Dissident Voice, Caveat Lector, San Pedro River Review, Glassworks Magazine, Silk Road and Gyroscope Review. Internationally, he's had poetry published in Canada, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, France, New Zealand, Portugal, the Philippines, India and Antarctica. His poetry has appeared in the anthologies: You Can Hear the Ocean: An Anthology of Classic and Current Poetry, TimeSlice, The Weight of Addition, and Level Land: Poetry For and About the I35 Corridor. Read other articles by R.T..

This article was posted on Sunday, January 21st, 2024 at 8:02am and is filed under Poetry.