War - Joan Brady

So, what do I say to you
Old enemy
Tapestry woven in the hair of the dead 

Voice promising
To rid the world of...
To make the world safe from... 

(Fill in the blank) 

You are an ancient promise 

Made by faces
On school walls
On statues 

On money

You live on the blood of the young 

Whose names you chisel
In stonewalls
To show you remember 

To show you care 

And I see you 

And I hear you 

By action
By belief 

By silence
Telling me
You are ready for another feeding

And I listen
And I see the walls multiplying 

And I know
Soon they will bury us

And I promise you
When we meet again
I will not embrace you
I will not welcome you
I will name you
And I will call you out
For the nightmare that you are 

And I will continue and continue 

Until all that is left of me

Are ashes 

               ***