Later, we saw the lilies
pushed into emptied jars, left fading on a sidewalk
               at the bottom of the stairs.
There had been the ancient betrothals and the failed alarms,
ghosts dissolved in their threads, and curtains
               closing long windows of sadness.
The children, afraid, sent into the back bedroom.

On these city steps
filling now with stray flowers,
the farthest war zones arrive at our feet.
Labyrinths dead end at the contradictions, the gentle homes;
               send important notices
               to the soul.

Judith Horowitz Yamamoto is an activist poet, working with both Lawrence & John Hart. Published in several literary magazines, most recently in The Seventh Quarry, Blue Unicorn, The Listening Eye, and Out of our. First book of poetry, At My Table published in 2014 by Sugartown Pulishing. Read widely in SF Bay Area venues, including as one of three San Francisco’s “District 5” winners in Jack Hirschman’s 2014 “Poet’s 11” contest; and at Taste of Rome cafe in Sausalito.