Day 499/Ceasefire Day 29

(for Abubaker)

He wanders the ruined land, one place
disturbingly like another:  no way
to orient, no landmarks, only the sun
in its consoling predictability, moving
across the sky, tracing east, west.
He is looking for what remains.  He
is looking for what he remembers.
At moments, a sign:  the shape
of a building surmised from the part
that still stands.  A tree that, unfathomably,
survives, its roots seeking nourishment
from far underground, where bombs
could not penetrate.  He wanders, 
looking for what was there, for what
will be there again.  Sometimes he thinks
he can see people walking, carrying
vegetables, bread.  Sometimes
he hears a lively conversation: students
talking about a book, a lecture
they’ve just heard by a loved professor.
He walks the ruined land
populating it with those
who were killed, vowing to them
that their voices, their dreams, will not be lost.