there are old fields of poppies and sunflowers
still leaching out all their poison and lead
beneath winter skies that cannot forget
through all those lessons, lest we forget
we know the sun follows where the sunflowers
across the sky choose to lead
with soldiers fallen where they were led
and all their lives lost, we still will forget
a cenotaph only of sunflowers
but the sunflowers leach their lead
and never forget
BIO: Mark A. Fisher is a writer, poet, and playwright living in Tehachapi, CA. His poetry has appeared in: Reliquiae, Silver Blade, Trouvaille Review, and many other places. His first chapbook, drifter, is available from Amazon. His poem “there are fossils” (originally published in Silver Blade) came in second in the 2020 Dwarf Stars Speculative Poetry Competition. His plays have appeared on California stages in Pine Mountain Club, Tehachapi, Bakersfield, and Hayward. He has also won cooking ribbons at the Kern County Fair.