Triage: Poems

The poems in Triage are primarily driven by the Iraq war, a war that targeted civilians, even women and children, with the aggressors misdirected by the false notion that winning is what matters, and the other misinformation that winning is even possible. All the warriors can accomplish is to make sure there are losers all over and under the rubble. Meanwhile, we sit at home and fret, fume, and wait for news. Meanwhile, we seek beauty where we can find it, in the call of owls, the colors of poppies, the quest of students to understand. And life does go on. Birds carry on, flowers bloom. Of course nature has its dark omens. Owls hoot of death. Weather threatens. Evening symbolizes endings. We must find beauty where it is, even if it's not where we're trained to find it. The narrative poems focus in on moments of change