I have heard you call
drawing me to you
bidding me enter
hands reaching across decades
pulling me ever toward you
promising the freedom I have always sought
and now have I arrived
to claim what had always been mine
but there is no temple
there is only silence
and a tomb
words greet me
"O man, whoever thou art, from wheresoever thou cometh, for I know you shall come, I am Cyrus, who gave the Persians their Empire.
Grudge me not, therefore, this little earth that covers my body."
I don't want his earth
I don't want his body
I want to be free
but there is no freedom here
standing in front of the tomb
I look and find only desert in all directions
and I hear Cyrus weeping with me
Anthony Roberts is a veteran of Baltimore and Afghanistan. He currently lives in New Jersey in a home with beautiful views and interlocking fields of fire.
He is the author of Pigtown and The Clearing Barrel.
You can follow him here.
What’s happening at VetRep…
Our first Savage WonderGround is in the books! It was an incredible night - read the write up from Alexandria’s own Zebra Press here.
Listen to our latest podcast with Stephen Camelio here.
Get tickets to our final Parlor show of 2022 - Dudley Moore and Peter Cook’s GOOD EVENING here!