By Now

By now the flags have been furled,
The flagpoles forlorn.
The lights of the city have aged
Beyond vistas still-born.
Beyond memory.

By now the tears have been wiped
From furrowed cheeks.
Bulbs that glowed red,
Disguises now shed,
Are back on their commonplace beam.

By now the awed candles have melted
Like early snows.
Hushed is the keening of wreaths
Along the white rows.

By now the heroes back
To the albums we keep,
The photos framed black to the newspaper morgues,
Eternal youth
To its sleep.
By now the flags have been furled...