ADVICE TO THE WAR POETS

 

when you write about war in your sunburst poems

and describe its devastation

with an acute beauty, worthy of prizes

when you do your household chores by the light of

the flares sent up and talk about this

to an international audience

war is happy. snug. content.

its gaining fame. but you.

you worship under a false sun up

you feed it what it wants to hear

that it still is alive

successful

beating you down

so that even hearing the rain on the roof

you only imagine it is the war gods thundering

in little sloshes and puddles off the drains

tiptoing to take your whole domain

and strangle it.

write instead of the lanes in Spring

the competition of flowers.

the art of the past

that lasts and lasts

the soul still laughing

above all spheres

the war ending,

next Spring.or even in the next instant.

the searing of happiness on the brain.

the parties you will throw.

forever. the kindness of God.

mary angela douglas 11 july 2023