Vietnam warns on Iraq

Vietnam warns on Iraq

Black Marble Wall,
wells up from neat green shroud,
imperceptibly at first,
almost catching pilgrims by surprise,
then banks steeply,
damning fifty thousand souls.

Black marble wall,
cries up fifty thousand names,
attracts at first the unseen weepers,
laying down flags and flowers
and moving scrawled letters
at the foot of the headstone.

Black marble wall,
attracts promenading pilgrims
silently paying homage;
now and then a parent, a sibling
stops and points to spot on wall;
tears well up from silent memories.

Black silent wall,
stands counterpoint
to massive white monuments
of this imperial city,
built on sense of power and might.
Black marble wall warns silently:
Supreme power needs supreme wisdom.


Washington, D.C., Vietnam War Memorial,
November 11, 1986