son of a civil engineer

one day in a forest i'll find you

shrink myself in the midst of the great spears

that reach for the sky like pennants of freedom

and i'll remember that this too was a battle ground

but stands still

as a memorial to the fallen plain

and i wonder to myself

if that is why we build cities

with their sky piercing towers

if we, in our secret minds, raise them

as sacred grounds to honor

those who lie silently beneath them

(one day perhaps they will raise

for me a city sharp and shining

to cut a small strip out of the horizon

and sing with the voice of a cynic

the old hymns of forgiveness)

that is why i am looking for you 

you know

because i shamed myself in the shadows

speaking out of the small places

and using the little words to create

a pushing hole that like silence

like a cancer grows

and so here in this silent place

i will build for you a city

of needles with their sharp pine scent

lying here watching the sky disappear

i will pile the slick needles high

over our battlefield 

and force my fingers to be still

under the weight of my remorse

i'll lie here waiting

watching for you to come

because you know that this is where 

i will be, and what i will be doing

you know that i was weak

and that i was wrong

i build you a city

because thats what we do

to remember

and to remind us that

life will still go on