The Defence Budget


What got into the head of Cain when enraged
He clobbered his brother Abel to death?
Later by another strange circumstance
Romulus did the same to Remus, his kin.
Unlike poor Abel, Remus did resist
And struck back with lethal intent
Over the city without a good name.
Forthwith not Rema, but ROMA prevails.

So when jealousy with pride was engaged
The sentinel cried "War"and the blood boiled.
Calm heads recruited men who never aged
Anymore and the human heart recoiled.

The field was humid and lay in the breadth
Of its barren pastures, carrion for birds.
Nothing moved except by nature's own breath
And tall orders divided in two thirds.

Misty eyes of comrades gazed in a trance
At the pale hues of a distant sunset
Darken, closing the pearly gates of chance
Where tempered steel with silken flesh had met.

If to kill would be a cardinal sin,
Should the weight on the operator fall?
Dark hours pass and press on the will to win.
After all, they need not answer the call!

If on war the public outcries insist,
What worldly view does not heed the justice
Of self interest? The ego will persist
And put scented, grave words into practice.

The commanders usually pitch a tent,
Herewith big decisions perforce be made,
While the soldiers with less must be content
Knowing, some, tomorrow morn shall be slayed.

Some say smiling that life is just a game.
Others will say that it is a bit more.
Whatever, the rules do not remain the same
but the broad aims do not change at the core.

The defence budget procures what assails
Human sense to bend down on its knees
And beg for the very thing at which it fails -
The future, rosy and bright, which it sees.

Bevagna, 22 2 2009