Ceasefire

 No phosphorous glare, no havoc.
 No resilient flag
 to greet you.

 Just blackbirds and robins
 singing their dawn chorus.

 Just grass transpiring
 in the cool of day.

 Electricity will be back on
 within the hour; no mortars
 will be fired here.

 These children will not die
 of dysentery; these roads
 will not be buried in rubble.

 This is not the apocalypse
 no matter
 how much you wish for it.