Dead Letter Days

by S. L. Northey

War a defeat those dead letter days
Miles of death lie on the sand
I guess I should be somehow grateful
This is not the day of my passing hour

Letters to respond, messages from home
What on earth do I say to them?
I walk among bodies still in the sand
People and that something they die for

I sit in my tent and think what to write
This day is not what I asked for
Miles of people still in the sand
As I try to defeat those dead letter days

S. L. Northey is a graduate of Saint Francis University. She enlisted in the Army and served for three years in the Emergency Department at Madigan Army Medical Center. She remained in the Army Reserve until 1996. Her book Good Grieving is forthcoming in January 2016.