war stories

this blood-dripping
saddle says to me
my lord will not
be coming home
for tea

on spreading green swards
under monkey-puzzle trees

because
he's dead

he was a very silly
man, we all agree
and it was not
a bad thing

to die in glorious battle
for the sake of his family

but now
he's dead

that's that

and we have to look
to the future
in which certain
things will happen

not, perhaps, good
things, but we are

secure, for the moment
among nervous friends
and a plague
of drunken sycophants

but

there is a danger still
that the whole
wobbly edifice
of our fathers
will crumble
and fall
down

I would vote
if we had elections
I would laugh
if my mouth
wasn't covered
with bandages

war is not so bad
you can pick up
a few things
here and there
as long as you
don't get killed

you have to
go your own way
isn't that what
we all believe?
leaving others
to pick up the pieces

being young
is what it's all about
but now
we have to drag out
more screaming
prisoners

you sit at home, but
democracy is a tough job

you sit at home, and
I envy you at times
but you can't do
what I can do

I can kill people

when I go home
I can work in the store
stacking shelves
but I think I might
go to college