Friends

In the darkness, my friends without shields

Walk boldly on the target, unyielding

Late at night, the windows shatter

But they move forward, without a word

 

My friends without shoes, leaving behind

All that they hold dear, grief trailing behind

Like a fire among its bells

They turn on the dial and then part ways

 

Names like gloves, they set out bare handed

Unknown and unnoticed, but leaving their mark

Laying wreaths at milestones, cups at the wells

Chained up, their struggles unseen

 

Without feet, they sit by the wall

Nodding to the orchestra of the broken

Brotherhood, it whispers in the darkness

As my friend without eyes smiles in the rain

 

With a nest of salt in his hand

My friends without fathers or houses

Hear doors opening in the darkness

An announcement of smoke coming home

 

In common, we hold the present

A wax bell in a wax belfry

Hunger for the sake of hunger

Owls in our hearts, and hands

One for asking, one for applause

 

Leaving behind what we have in a box

My friends without keys, leaving the jails at night

Taking the same road, missing each other

Inventing the same banner in the dark

 

Asking their way only of sentries too proud to breathe

At dawn, the stars on their flag will vanish

The water will wash away their footprints

And the day will rise like a monument

 

To my friends, the forgotten

Whose struggles go unseen

But whose presence will not be forgotten. ("Friends") by Courtney Weaver Jr.