Ghosts of war

Parents, wives, and children stood by and saw their men off to war. The wagons raised so much dust that no one could see them past the bridge. Some marched north to defend the river; some marched west to farm for the army. When they left their hair was black; if they’re alive now, their hair is white. Even though women went out with hoes, weeds took over the fields. Thousands of villages were abandoned. People didn’t want to have sons because they would be arrested and sent to die at the front. The bones piled up with no one to bury them. The dead grieved along with the living.