Literary Enclave:
Poetry Zone

My Sony Triniton,
capable of ninety seven channels,
has made me nostalgic.
Saturday, it says
commemorates fifty years
since the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Curious, I examine
the WWII shell casing
on top of my desk,
a 40mm link
to a war
I never knew.

The shaky engraving at its base reads:

"To Gladys, Sam, Sam, Jr. and Betty Jane,
(grandmother, grandfather, uncle, and mother)

              Love,
    
                Charley
             (my great-uncle)

Algeria, North Africa - '43 & '44."

Etched on the hollow brass sides are pictures:

     a turbaned figure
     a palm tree,
     and a camel.

almost illegible now,
beneath the tarnish.