Guardsman

The machine gun slung

on a guardsman’s shoulder, aimed

at blue sky, as if the war might be

won, if it could still be fought.

But that was a tornado, this only

a heavy storm in early summer, a kite-

cleaning for the trees, and exercise

for the long-limbed loping wind.

He is not afraid of the lightning,

but wonders, have I remembered well?

I should test my stride against

that lean racer’s, run for some low

roof the bolts pass by for a higher,

where the storm bashes itself into air.

He looks at the tree, chin thrust up

like a sailor’s.  The leaves thrash

in the fierce currents of the wind.

The Knight, Death, and the Devil

The Knight and his Death ride horses bridled;
One with studded leather, the Other twisted hemp.
The Devil walks. Having nothing hasty to attempt,
He's happiest when men, actively morally idle,
March, run, ride, or fly toward anything Ideal.
Plodding along, He's never too far behind.
The Devil and Death have nothing to conceal
From a Knight known to be uncommonly unkind;
To the men who've just been maimed by his sword,
He's always spared a righteous, comforting word.
They show themselves: anthropomorphic Fates
The Knight, smiling to himself, politely ignores.
A running dog briefly disrupts the stalemate
Only one of the three has the power to restore.

Army Men

The military objective: to knock the chip
Off the mysterious stone's shoulder, then tip
The whole evil mass over and bury its white
And gaping, bespittled gob out of human sight.
The soldiers, rigid with fear and umbrageous rage,
Are all innocent, young, exactly the same age.
Their memories are identical, none recalls
How his father fought the same war with the same balls.
Though they are many (the stone is ageless and numb,
Impervious to thought, its nervous system dumb),
They're dry sticks waved over dry soil by a dowser,
When what's needed is a six inch field howitzer.
They break against the stone, bounce back, and charge --
Small men to prevail over what is merely large.

Dragon’s Blood

Long ago, each dragon had its slayer.
The hoarding of gold was always a crime.
Armed with only a sword and a prayer,
The young knight tracked the serpent by its slime.
Some thought the worm slept on his rug of gold,
Never wakening, but like all creatures,
It must eat -- a lady perhaps, not old,
With pleasing form and nice facial features.
Surprised by the knight while guarding its lair,
The dragon, too sated to run, plunges
Forward as the terrified knight lunges.
Its last thought glimmers: "This is not fair."
The bloody sword drips on the knight's fingers.
He licks them. Only the gold smell lingers.

The Headless

A tyrant seeks with tongue or sword to erase

In his conquests every other race

But his own, put defenders to the chase.

He doesn’t have to kill to cut off heads;

He can speak black words of hatred instead.

By doing so, his voice, his anger, bled

Of honor, leaves him only his blunt spear

To throw blindly at what he thinks is fear,

As one by one his soldiers disappear.

The “headless” ones begin to speak of truth

With the insight and energy of youth,

And refuse to accept their headless state:

The tyrant himself, mumbling, “I am great,”

With nothing left beneath his balding pate.

The Thief

The Capitol, a home of belief —

It doesn’t matter which — slowly decays.

The roof beams go first, nothing wooden stays.

Moss paints the stone arches in bas-relief, 

Images of dead and forgotten grief.

We live in roofless rooms with a sly thief,

Who steals, first our parents and eldest friends,

Then our useless youth, which he quickly spends.

Our music and books are replaced with fakes,

Our mirrors with odd faces, double takes.

Though I would not kill the thief if I could,

I defy him — plant flowers, kiss the wind.

I have children I hug; I’ve seldom sinned.

He can’t have my memories, bad or good.

The Dancing Monster

If you dare to tell him he can’t,

The monster starts his dancing rant.

The noise blasts an half-empty House

Where nothing stirs, not even a louse.

His legs lift just so high and pound

And pound the ground like myriad rounds

Aimed to shell the foundations

Of once allied loyal nations.

(He makes of enemies his friends

For obvious and evil ends.)

His confused shrieking grows louder,

Anger eloquent as gun powder.

When dance and rant become one,

The work of dictatorship’s begun.