Vigil

    by Esther Greenleaf Mürer

The first Gulf War was upon us

that day in your hospital room

when we sat on the floor and sang.

On my way home I was pulled

off course and into your room.

The first Gulf War was upon us,

whether or not you knew it.

I don't know if you heard us

when we sat on the floor and sang

"I'm on my way to freedom land" –

belting out verse after verse

as the first Gulf War was upon us.

This time you're excused, we told you.

You can leave the protest to us.

And we sat on the floor and sang.

Still, I felt that you'd be there

keeping an unseen vigil

as the first Gulf War broke upon us

and we sat on the floor and sang.

© 2009 Esther Greenleaf Mürer

Esther Greenleaf Mürer lives in Philadelphia.  At 73, she considers herself an emerging poet. Her work has been recently published or is forthcoming in Mimesis, The Externalist, Town Creek Poetry, Touch: The Journal of Healing, and Unsplendid.