November hymnal (6) / Trench cello
When the box was out of ammunition
someone now dead made a cello of it
and tuned it to the trenches as mud spilled
over the edges and they played elegies
for themselves in the space between concussions
listening for those who’d not hear their voices
again unless they were as lucky as that
ammunition box outliving its usefulness
and becoming song
Translations from the English 
Someone narrowly defeated when the box held no more votes … leaves those in the political mud with a song of possibilities, a chorus to echo.
You probably weren’t thinking politics when you wrote this … beautiful in multiple connotations.
Having just spent 16 hours covering Election Day, in fact I was! But was trying not to write directly about it.
Ah, not just me then. I’ve just been on the web reading about/ listening to this cello – an amazing bit of history I’d not encountered before. Thank you.
Our muck in 2018 no way compares to the horrors of the WWI trenches … you’ve provided a good level-set.
Beautiful.