I have no use for grandiose procession
Victors in a war are unimpressed
By anything save universal sadness
While what an eager populace expects
May differ by degree – intoxicants
Such as the siege and slaughter of a foe
Make only a non-combatant trip out
On patriotic fervour
Our nausea we swallow back until
Safely back in barracks we can spew
Indignation that the landless poor
Courageous young – and untried soldier
Suffer on all sides in time of war
Those who seek revenge
Can build two coffins –
One might house our shared humanity:
You kill now at a distance – but despatched
To total up the damage
Find a face familiar as your own
Amid the butcher’s block that was a town
I do not care to go to war at all
But if I must I wear a black armband
As going to the funeral of a friend
Forgive me if I keep my armband on
Two or three years more
Beyond all sacrilegious celebration –
This is Sicilian custom and tradition
.
Bernard Saint
Illustration: Claire Palmer
.