The Date by Alex Skovron

Each war contains all earlier wars,
Canetti says. The Father considers this,
the Daughter minces past the compact disc
repository snaked out across the shelf next to the door,
tossing a cruel eye. Her lipstick clatters proudly
from her lips into her side-slung armoury,

the bustle slams into a sudden truce,
he stops the book.
Jammed on last night’s news
the video timer flashes, the frame waits paralysed:
a girl with blood on her lips, war in her eyes.

From: https://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/skovron-alex/poems/the-date-0121027

Date: 1999

By: Alex Skovron (1948- )