Day 507/Ceasefire Day 37

Come with me, the girl says to her brother.
I’ll show you something beautiful.
Her brother takes her hand.  They’re stepping
over fallen concrete, jagged stones; careful
of what’s there – unexploded weapons?
Walls that might collapse, so tenuously
standing?  Come with me, she tells him.
They are climbing, climbing.  At last
they get to a place where she tells him
to look straight ahead.  What 
are we looking at?  he asks her. All
I see is more of what we’ve 
been climbing over.  No, she says.
Look!  can’t you see the fields
of flowers?  the planted rows
of peppers, zucchini? Can’t you see
the school with its playground, 
its windows reflecting everything back?
The children running?  Her brother
stands, squints.  Puzzled.  All I can see
is what we just saw, he says to her.
She holds his hand more tightly,
looks into his eyes.  This is what will be,
she says to him, knowing he doesn’t
understand.  Maybe you’ll see better
if you close your eyes.