Last Words

My name is Judoc.
Summer has been good.
My kail is tall and healthy.
My father cannot walk now
or remember yesterday.

Last week my old horse
stumbled and is lame.
I have borrowed a mule
from my cousin Maël.

The Romans are coming.

I am Abdul Rahman.
Sunlight on the lake
dazzled me yesterday.
The vines are green.

Last week the marriage
of our elder daughter
has been arranged.
We pray, Inshallah,
for joy and a grandchild.

The Christians are coming.

My name is Jaroslaw.
I need to find
a special teacher
for my son Dawid.
He is autistic.

Last week a stray cat,
tiger-striped and fearful,
came to our kitchen.
We have let it stay.

The Germans are coming.

I am Corporal Lewis.
Last week I shot
a woman and her baby.
I made one decision.
I shot the woman first.

I am guilty
of obedience.

At base I’ve seen
a Fuck the Army show
but it’s not the army.
It was Nixon. Nixon
killed those poor folks.

It was the big shot-callers.
Fuck Kissinger. Fuck Nixon.
There’s mutiny now. Soon,

soon, the soldiers will be leaving.