When I heard the bombing 

had begun I drove down 

to Keene and bought 

a 3x magnifying glass, 

a sketch book 

and drawing pencils. Then,

I went out behind the apartments

to snap off seed pods, weeds 

I could not name 

and a couple of brittle leaves.

I saved the afternoon  

by studying edges 

of petals, seeds, 

the marvelous veins

and sketching them. 

On the page, I wrote:

unknown weeds 10/7/01, found 

in the patch between Applewood

and the Historical Museum;

on the day we began bombing.

Then I made a pot of soup 

out of black-eyed peas 

and a ham bone

I'd frozen from Easter.

I threw in onions, garlic, 

parsley, cumin, 

a couple of tomatoes--

whatever made sense.

Enough for an army.