AFTER THE MEETING

Some things to consider: eye wear, rain from
a distance appearing in black lines dropping
out of a single dark cloud, the vocalizing
(especially when it's "unintelligible")
that sometimes takes place during sex,
drug side effects (especially those that
drug makers claim "will subside over time"),
the phrase "please be seated" . . .
Stanza next to stanza, the whole war drifting
in our consciousnesses, what it feels like,
War. The word. The thing. Seven years into a less
than ideal job, laws falling, other laws piling up,
people watching CNBC for ten hours straight,
the discussion that takes place deep in the heart
of a building, how you could script it on several
large note cards, never say a word, just hold
up the cards you prepared in silence, clear-headed,
full of conviction; just hold them up, one after
another, everybody's brought a set, just get
'em right up there, it wouldn't really matter what order.