In dreams I say goodbye to dead friends
some recent others of long ago
last night my deceased visitor is young
we talk about his professional work
several decades after we last visited
“tail-gunner” as you were known
23 flights in bombers over Germany
a miracle of survival as the average bomber
lasts only 7 runs
against Hitler’s Focke-Wulf FW-190s
and anti-aircraft guns
you enter the ministry as statistics fail
to convey the possibilites of reality
your calm voice convinces we novitiates
of the poverty of reason
in the world of politics
special interests so fractious
no one can plot a trajectory of decision
through the ack ack ack of opposition
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