-War is Like the Lover- revised
YSubject: Re: Poem-War is Like the Lover- revised
;Please give credit to prior publicationPhiladelphia Poets issue of April2003
The first line came to me while I wasputting up flyers for a
Delco Poets against the War Reading on a snowy Swarthmore College campus.I sat in the snow to pen the first few lines.Nowadays I would go to the coffee bar.Also, the line breaks and line seperationsare intentional.Resistance needs to be both celebrated andremembered, whether it is us or theWhite Rose, Tom Mullian or Woody Guthrie,Phil Ochs or Laurie Pollack, RW or anyof the Winter Soldiers.Bob Small
War is like the Lover
War is like the lover you
keep keep
coming coming
back back
to to
War is like the lover you keep
coming back to
believing his lies
believing he will not abuse you
this time
Like he has evdry time
in the past 2,000 years.
War is the abusive obsessive lover
you run away from
who seeks you through the trees
who follows you
in the streets and haciendas
in the bars and the huts
in the alleys and the subways-
War seeks your scent
tells you you must go with him
That you can never form the words
No!-
2) War is the booted lover
who seduced you with his films
and impressed you with his
brutal
strength
with his songs and guns
with his words and knives
with his tanks, bombs-
and one day
you realize that he is Juan Peron
but that is not so bad
for he calls you Evita
complicity
has it’s rewards.
3) War is the screeching harridan
who screams so loud
that you do what she says
losing knowledge of yourself
It was way past love yesterday
now it is only obedience
war is the women who
will now give themselves to you
war is the old men in bars
who will willingly buy you drinks
war is the children at the fourth of July parade
looking up at you
and all the old men and women
who still say thank you
thank you
thank you
war tells you this
you believe
because you are a man
and as a man
you want to believe
and as a man you have to believe
you have to believe
4) War lies to you because it can
because war knows you will forget your anger
after a night of pleasure
war buys you flowers war brings you a steak and all is forgiven
war knows you are easy
war tells you that some day you will be the killer
and you will understandwhy it must be done
why war is needed
war sighs as though in regret
failing to tell you that someday
you will be the killed and you must then under stand
why it must be done
5) War will never change
war will never learn
we must change
we must learn
we must tell war no!
we must tell fight no!
when your hands yearn to rise you must tell them no
write paint sing
when your feet seek to kick
you must have them walk run swim
when you feel your violence rise
you must gain victory over it
like any other ad dic tion
you fi nallysay no to
War will cry then
promise and tears promise and tears
Do not listen
Let War die
Let War die
Let War Die
LetWarDie
Bob Small from March 2003revised 3-9-08 revised 1-27-23
robertthesmall 