she said to me
illinois
was as cold and dry
as her mothers humor
and her fathers eyes

that the lake was blue and dark and deep
as her restless nights and her fiftul sleep
and as she stood to go she seemed to leap
from the world shed known there in her seat

and i would give my teeth
to the tongue tied girl
with her head in her hands
at the edge of the world

i would give my peace
for unending war

and they took me in
and made me stay
an invalid in a hospital bed
and they etched my name in a clear glass pane
between my whitewashed room and the grey hallway

as they read me poems in somber tones
i grew older than i had ever been
my eyes clear as a cold winters night
my heart empty as an angry beggars tin

and i would give my chin
and raise it high
across battle fields and landmine wires
in these modern times all men still die

and i would give my teeth
to the tongue tied girl
her head in her hands
at the edge of the world

i would give my peace
for unending war

Filed under: MUSIC by Isaac Watters