Poems

***

the aged general
in front of his corporals
excuses himself publicly
like a rookie
for winning war

profiteers of the victory play games
pretending not to trust facts
prefer to quote faded documents
on vivacious losses
brilliantly lost uprisings
bloodshed in vain
endlessly

they cry shame upon the front-line soldier who dares
to defeat the myth of national defeat
the look which so becomes us

2001, January 2002

translation
Olena Waskiewicz