Night falls this year as if the Word had ended
Presidents and politicians of whatever stripe
Proclaim their nation mortally offended
Declare religiously the time is ripe
For retribution and revenge, exactment of the price
Death takes of the living -  a well-ordered sacrifice
Of men and principles and the old lie
For which supposedly  we stand, democracy
They say, freedom, though not brotherhood
 A step too far, too rich a sacremental food
To ask for recognition of the other’s right
To anything beyond obeisance to self-righteous might
Just for a while, of course, while we
Deal with this terrible emergency
Drop Lucifer a  bomb or three
Won’t take long to set the whole world free -
Just so a modern quarrel garbs itself in ancient cloth
A clash of faith, a claim to ownership of sacred wrath.
Emnity that cannot, will not cease
War dubiously declared for the slandered sake of peace.


London: March 2003