RECOGNIZING THE SIGNS OF DEATH

44th Casualty Clearing Station, Poperinghe

dreaming of being led by a man on foot

or on a horse, toward the west

in the shade of trees, where one cannot

be escorted by others, and once there

hearing someone crying behind one

then the rustle of stiff cloth, light breaking,

the muffled sound of metal on metal

a woman nearby carries burning twigs of juniper

and a mirror