Counting the DEAD

not that I'd like to
count the dead from all the wars
or even a bunch of wars
or even one lousy war

but the way
our media rolls these days
those numbers weigh in
and stack up

it's the tail end of october
it's the season to plant bear root
the count was 98 last week
and is 100 today

it's the downhill part of 2006
it's a year when gladiolas revert to yellow
the war is eroding me somehow
numeric drops wetly wear this rock

away