stories

a poem about the lasting effects of a war

eyes tell stories, they say
and your eyes, your eyes tell me stories that i cannot bear to hear,
stories of combat, genocide, blood
stories of children, women, men
- anyone, everyone, mercilessly killed.
stories of bitter desperation, crippled in constant fear,
stories of loss, of pain
- that no length of time could ever heal.
no length of time could erase these horrors your eyes beheld,
nor of the agony you endured.
nothing can change these stories, i know
these stories that your eyes mourn about.
but please, these stories cannot be repeated again, not again
i cannot see those eyes again.