Day 480/Ceasefire Day 10

They cried every night, these two brothers,
for months:  cried for their cousins,
their friends, their school,
their house.  But today
they are walking, part of the endless 
procession home!  Today
they have eaten, today
they are looking ahead,
behind, all around, and what they see
is the ocean of people on their way
back north.  Who has given them
these drums?  Did they carry them
with them through all
the displacements?  The drums
have survived the bombings,
the fires, the snipers’ bullets.
Like these boys, they are whole,
strong.  The brothers stand,
beating their drums, singing
in their sweet unbroken voices
as the people walk by: elderly fathers
carried on the shoulders
of their sons, a woman being pushed
in a makeshift wheelchair, weeping.
cheering. The boys beat out
their song: Today
is the first day of the revolution!
The first day of the new moment
we will rebuild!  Today
is the first day of our freedom!