Cathal, Briefly

The last time
I saw you
I said we were like
two old soldiers.
You smiled
with your whole face.

If I had known
your war was over;
that you had said,
Enough.

If I had seen
in your white smile
the ragged flag
of surrender…

But the last time
I saw you
I was glib,
useless.
Met Cathal, briefly
I wrote in my journal.
The last time.