THE FIRE AND THE COMING OF WAR

On a quiet evening
I look up and realize
we have missed the full bloom
of the flamboyante trees.

The bay where
the ghost-like ships
normally sit is now
a ghost itself.

It’s much like Yom Kippur,
only grown-ups are not strolling
through the streets
and children are not riding their bikes.

(21 July 2006)