Drumrolls are heard from behind the mountains
People prepare for the festivities to start
Little do they know that the end is near
As the rage of war fills the eyes with fear

Lovers pick up daffodils in the prairies
Oblivious to the sound of rockets
Warmongers pledge an encounter with God
Negotiating contracts broad and flawed

At the edge of the battlefield, they claim duties
Playing judges to ravel their cronies
Covered with masks, they preach commitment
To a cause filled with mire and ideas malignant

In their rocking brown chairs
Old men and women try to remember
They forgot to die when the rockets flew
Into their beds, they did not surrender

Twilight, dawn, dusk, night, all mingle
As if their contract from above was a symbol
That all times must pass and a new day will rise
But will it be at dawn, dusk, or sunrise?

Ramzi Albert Rihani is a Lebanese American writer. His poems have been published in several publications including Last Leaves Magazine, and The Silent Journey Anthology. He is a published music critic.