There are cranes in the distance,
Through the orange waves of the evening nod the mighty.
Nod, nod.

Sweet fumes, sweeter far than any blood is sweet,
Or sweat or wild metal.

But that's not quite right.
See it in the clearer light.
Pray by headlamps for the dust
Untouched by water,
Think of misplaced trust.

And this one, and these,
And also that and those,
Bound in banadages and uniform
(Where it is not lost - barbed or torn),
Or this, a helmet of hair and water and the cross.
The tent shivers in the still heat.

For the wounded,
And the done.
Underneath the desert sun
With rifles stacked, and medication strewn across the floor.

For the timing,
And the place,
Those less fortunate in the race to stay alive but
Face the danger,
There's no stranger war than this.

All the President's men
And a bullet's kiss.

"Never again; Nevermore."