The Dove
Si vis pacem, para bellum
Every poem must
start with some kind of weather
report. It is
winter
and the white
cocaine of the clouds was on your
eyebrows. No wind,
no light, I am the last
flower in your rib
cage, blooming with no time
left.
You are putting
your skin to the ground,
layer after layer.
Dark sun shining upon dark clouds.
The butterfly of
our youth jots a note on your skull:
We are here just for a tiny moment.
Everything is
holy, holy, holy and decaying. The door leading outside is
a trap. The dark
inside is falling like a guillotine.
And the sons march, they march towards freedom –
"Come back with your shield - or on
it"
And I will go now.
Look for me in the skies or
in the eyes of the
river. Time has nothing on us.
In his late-4th-century manual "Epitoma rei militaris" Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus insisted, "Si vis pacem, para bellum" (If you want peace, prepare for war). The 19th-century Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken Aktien-Gesellschaft (German Weapons and Munitions public limited company) adopted part of the phrase as its motto, and thus "Parabellum" became applied to firearms and ammunition such as the 9x19mm Parabellum cartridge designed by Georg Luger (rather in the manner that the "peacemaker" was used to describe the Colt Single Action Army handgun). In the "Sayings of Spartan Women" section of his "Moralia" Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus claimed in the 1st century (centuries after Sparta's military power had waned) that “Another woman handed her son his shield, and exhorted him: ‘Son, either with this or on this.'” Also according to the same historian the Spartan king Demaratos (510-491 BCE) explained why it was dishonorable to return home without a shield but not without a helmet: "Because the latter they put on for their own protection, but the shield for the common good of all.” Because shields were expensive they were traditionally passed down from generation to generation, so returning without one’s shield generally meant the hoplite had either thrown it away in panic, was too weak to carry it home, or had lost it due to carelessness or stupidity.
ReplyDeleteThis twist is carved out of marble. And now released for all of us to enjoy.
ReplyDelete"Everything is holy, holy, holy and decaying. The door leading outside is a trap. The dark inside is falling like a guillotine."
Well done Duane and Kanev
Dan C.