​The Anti-War Movement, 1974

​Armored Personnel Carriers sat unguarded 
Defacing our school, so having no greater cause 
To occupy our time, we found several sticks of chalk 
That would not be missed and went to work.  

Somewhere else, the earnest caretakers of the APCs 
Hand-to-handed out leaflets and declared the virtues of service
In the National Guard. Meanwhile, we crept, concealed by junipers 
And rhododendrons, to the edge of the garden, 
Then darted between the two parked, tracked vehicles, 
Until we reached the far flank. Then with our chalk, 
We traced encircled semaphores for peace, 
And we exhorted no one in particular to Stop the War, 
Which was, to all reasonable persons, already defunct.  

Nobody prevented us nor cheered us on, 
And our handiwork was surely gone with the first good rain, 
Of which there was plenty in Seattle between that November 
And the day I entered West Point the following July.