Final Episode

by David Chorlton / July 16th, 2017

It’s all made up, but still
we want to know what happened
when a Spitfire crashed into the doctor’s house
just as the butcher’s wife was giving birth
while the wife of the obnoxious writer
was desperately trying to contact
her departing Czech lover
and the deserter who was found in the church
was facing the Wing Commander
who had just married the teacher who once
preferred women and, oh my God,
there was more to be resolved
when the screen went dark
leaving us to speculate on who survived, who
was sent back into the sky
to be a cloud forever, and whether
there was love enough to go around
for everyone after the armistice. It’s too late
not to care and having come so far
there’s nothing we won’t believe. After
the betrayals, rescues, twists
in fortune, and secrets revealed
the war used up all the truth available
and left its survivors searching
for an ending that would make it all worthwhile.

David Chorlton has lived in Phoenix since 1978. He grew up in England with watching soccer as a major part of life although he has managed to move on to other interests since then, including reading and writing poetry. Read other articles by David.

This article was posted on Sunday, July 16th, 2017 at 8:02am and is filed under Poetry.