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- )