His military haircut one wax fin
Of dolphin – but his grin a basking shark’s
Torino tugs his helmet on –
A bronze bull-headed balaclava
Distanced in its visor
His eyes grow olive-dark –
Man is an ugly creature
Perhaps the most perverse upon this planet
Kind? Oh yes sometimes
He kills his very kind
In political philosophy
Finding funds of justification
Yet when he lifts that martial mace
All his mother sees –
A precious curious infant
Carrying a reed
AXE-FACTOR
Long-gone crowds who gazed on gore
In awe to Roman Circus entertainment
In our day howl then hurl their underwear
As tokens of more civilised refinement
Bernard Saint
Illustration: Claire Palmer
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