Memorial Day, 28 May 2012
for Christopher Jobson @itscolossal
by Eileen Ridge

Perched, this morning,
pondering photos of our fathers
at sail on gunmetal ships
what it sometimes seemed
as the whole world were at war

A pain in the posterior
between hamstring & glute
from horseplay with a friend’s dog
sent me outside to stretch it
across neighborhood streets

Red, white and blue realty signs
Stories of sorrow and heroism
stream in through wires and waves
Behind the blinds, and some are crying
outside, for sale, and nobody’s buying

This is a day of marches and 4/4 beats
I went equipped with a band in my ears
L.A. rockers who smack of Jackson and Costello
back home, perched again on frozen peas
I think about elusive peace