my screen fills with
 rows
 name, age, home
 town
rows

 the rows never stop
 photos 
 50x75 pixels
rows

  faces
 some with a child
 some fierce in their
 uniform
 some high 
 school graduation
 pictures
rows

 and you hear the  numbers
 "this weekend over 15
 were killed over there"
 and 
 I see the
 faces I see the rows
   name
   age
   home town
rows

 sunday evenings
 when i finally sleep it 
 fills
 my dreams with
 shattered lives
rows

rows
 fills my dream sleep
 the rows
 like the Chinese
 Emporer who
 had casts made of all
 his
 soldiers and then
 buried them all with
 him
rows

 our emporer
 is filling the grave
 not numbers
       |child
       |father
       |uncle
       |aunt
       |mother
       |sister
       |brother
                    |child
rows

 i see the faces
 not stone not 
 busts not concrete
rows

  faces
  expectant
  determined
 soft smiles, eyes bright
rows

 ages 17
 23
 19
 47
rows

  home town
 boston
 memphis
 sioux falls
 billings
 grants pass
rows
 

 the emporer has 
 put them in 
rows

rows
 the emporer 
 has put them all
rows