Siegfried Sassoon, 'A Post-Mortem'

[duathir.livejournal.com]

Cross-post from war_poetry:

A Post-Mortem

Searching for souvenirs among some rubble,
A post-atomic-warfare man observed
That " those who made this little bit of trouble
Got only what they asked for and deserved"
Then, in a kindlier afterthought's release,
He pitied " them that only asked for peace".

by Siegfried Sassoon

"April Inventory", by W.D. Snodgrass

[med_cat]

April Inventory

The green catalpa tree has turned
All white; the cherry blooms once more.
In one whole year I haven't learned
A blessed thing they pay you for.
The blossoms snow down in my hair;
The trees and I will soon be bare.

The trees have more than I to spare.
The sleek, expensive girls I teach,
Younger and pinker every year,
Bloom gradually out of reach.
The pear tree lets its petals drop
Like dandruff on a tabletop.

The girls have grown so young by now
I have to nudge myself to stare.
This year they smile and mind me how
My teeth are falling with my hair.
In thirty years I may not get
Younger, shrewder, or out of debt.( Read more... )