WWII

pin-striped skeletons walking east of Dachau
black and white bravery, circa 1945.
confusion, hysteria, and FREEDOM,freedom everywhere
Stars and Stripes and freedom,
pouring out of jeeps, startling as grenades,
handsome, well-fed,
bold as brass.
all yelling
to hell with the blockade,with the guard towers,
with the smell of death,
freedom's coming, freedom.
he looks at me.
that was a bright word in a grim time -
he looks at me and says,
girl,
that was an era of heroes.