a brief time without soldiers

She was quiet for a long time, it seemed like years,

And I was patient, I knew I could wait her out.

Finally she said, "Every tree on earth is a grave marker

For the invisible dead. You could dig and not find a body,

But the bodies are there. They're invisible bodies."

So that was done. She looked down at her feet

And sort of dug one heel down in the dirt.

"Ja…