Richard Schnap- Two Poems

DECEMBER SONATA

I see the naked trees stripped of their costumes
And remember the lovers who faded away

I hear the wind’s voice on an empty stage
And think of a ballad whose name I’ve forgotten

I smell the dark fumes of dead leaves burning
And reminisce about friends who one day moved away

And I feel the world sink into hibernation
And wonder why some things always seem to find an end



VIET VET

I see him on the street from time to time
Wrapped in an army surplus coat
Propped up by a cane he clenches as tightly
As the rifle he inherited when he turned eighteen

And in his eyes is a faraway look
As he waits for the bus with a cheap six pack
To help him forget his broken youth
In a maze of jungles that still haunt his dreams