the children realized it too

the children realized it too
the walls were dirty and streaked with blood that wouldn't wash off
his son's blood from one night the liberators came calling

he had procured some paint and moved the furniture away from the walls
but he heard the aircraft and the explosions in the distance
and hesitated and considered just putting the can of paint down and sitting in his chair in the corner to wait for paradise to come to him.
In another corner his grandchildren cringed frightened
There was no better place to hide
The rockets could get you anywhere.

the color of the paint was mauve
he opened it with a nail and dipped the brush in
he went to the wall where the the blood was streaked and began painting over it
Stepping back he had a look and realized he'd need to prime it
the children looked up
they realized what their grandfather realized
and they were frightened.

--------------------------------
Now when he heard the word liberty it made him queasy.
Equality and fraternity,
concepts his cousin who'd been a student in Paris got hot about,
like the stories of paradise he'd read to the children.