during a war

by naomi shihab nye from you & yours

best wishes to you & yours

he closes the letter.

for a moment i can’t

fold it up again --

where does “yours” end?

dark eyes pleasing

what could we have done

differently?

your family,

your community,

circle of earth, we did not want,

we tried to stop,

we were not heard

by dark eyes who are dying

now. how easily they

would have welcomed us in

for coffee, serving it

in a simple room

with a radiant rug.

your friends & mine.