through the wire mesh at night

the schoolyard domed in yellow light

smooth and empty no-man's-land

like the inside of a peach can

the old block left to lurch

shut up tighter than a church

through darkened eyes we hardly see

inside the flags and maps of country

once as children, fond of yarns

father's land and mother's arms

we learned our lessons, by the book

of chinks in armor, gobbledygook

till the bell rang, and we heard her

each one screaming bloody murder

free for all, we came to blows

over hopskotch and dominoes

now that concrete slab

packed over worms and blab

dirty words unseeming

childish poems without meaning

engraved with names of love and war

is still, but will crack once more