PAX NUMQUAM

They went,
         many against their wishes.

Some came back ...
         with bloodied stubs where limbs used to be
         or with eyes,
         or faces,
         or minds
         missing.

Or on their shields.

And there were some who didn't come back
         at all.

Whither the red carpets?
Whither the bands and cheering crowds
         and ticker tape confetti?

Peace?
Honor?
Freedom?
The democratic way?

It wasn't the first time.
I doubt it was the last
         that a nation in the name
         of some abstracted virtue
         sacrificed its virgins
         to a bloody god.

Table of Contents

I AM ANIMA

A Poetry Chapbook
by
Honora Finkelstein

© 1997

Buy this chapbook
for only $7.50

Secure Online Shopping with PayPal