haiku retrospective lxiv

first night ~
tossing a dollar in the old man's hat.

cresting new year's wave
breaks over the hushed planet ~
we wait and watch

australia, japan, europe ~
world war one echo
"the thin gray line, does it hold?"

all quiet
as midnight rolls over the atlantic

in flanders,
do the poppies still bloom red?

31 December 1999