Stop crying,Oh man,Stop cursing meAnd listen.I didn’t come hereOf my own free will. I was invited.Believe me,I had no choicebut to visit you.How many lives were lostBecause of me?You count.But have you ever countedHow many have died so farBecause of you and your wars? You call yourself‘the crown of creation’.What about the others,Those who fly... Continue Reading →
Sonnet
Oh, oh, you will be sorry for that word!Give back my book and take my kiss instead.Was it my enemy or my friend I heard,‘What a big book for such a little head!’Come, I will show you my newest hat,And you may watch me purse my mouth and prink!Oh, I shall love you still, and... Continue Reading →
Letter from Foreign Grave
Dear motherThis is a gesture of memory from your son,Who lives seven hundred seas away.I know how sad you must be without me.But I’m fine here in this valley of shadows, freeFrom all mundane avarice, misery, and tears,Resting now at peace for ever and a day.The flesh that once was sleek and soundHas given way... Continue Reading →
Before the Battle
Music of whispering treesHushed by the broad-winged breezeWhere shaken water gleams;And evening radiance fallingWith reedy bird-notes calling.O bear me safe through dark, you low-voiced streams. I have no need to prayThat fear may pass away;I scorn the growl and rumble of the fightThat summons me from coolSilence of marsh and poolAnd yellow lilies islanded in... Continue Reading →
If …
If you can keep your head when all about youAre losing theirs and blaming it on you;If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,But make allowance for their doubting too;If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating,And... Continue Reading →
Butcher Shop
Sometimes walking late at nightI stop before a closed butcher shop.There is a single light in the storeLike the light in which the convict digs his tunnel. An apron hangs on the hook:The blood on it smeared into a mapOf the great continents of blood,The great rivers and oceans of blood. There are knives that... Continue Reading →