Vox Populi
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Fred Johnston: The Art of War
“Build your opponent a golden bridge to retreat across.” — Sun Tzu
I can tell by the weight of your voice
How long this room-to-room guerrilla war will to last
If only annexation of small territories might bring an end
To hostilities, or some agreeable forfeiture
Whether it’s time to evacuate or just rearrange the furniture
Neither leaves the other a choice
But to descend to arms, pin colours to a shattered mast
Go for the jugular, find something to fortify or defend
Consolidate gains, teach a lesson, light a fire
Get the killing done; make tea, set the alarm, retire.
Copyright 2024 Fred Johnston
Fred Johnston (born 1951) is an Irish poet, novelist, literary critic and musician. He is the founder and director of the Western Writers’ Centre in Galway. He co-founded the Irish Writers’ Co-operative in 1974, as well as Galway’s annual Cúirt International Festival of Literature in 1986. His many books include Rogue States (Salmon Poetry, 2019).
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“Consolidate gains, teach a lesson, light a fire
Get the killing done; make tea, set the alarm, retire”. Wow!
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This line harkened back to Jethro Tull’s War Child for me, with the tinkling of spoon on delicate china. The woman says, “Would you like another cup of tea, dear?” while air raid sirens start low in the background and grow to include gunfire and screams before the music starts.
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Wow, Kim. Lovely leap…
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quite a to-do list!
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Oh such delight in duress, we are an unsettled beast, even after the beaten sword, the ploughshare still not an implement of peace. “The half-remembered places”—mapped by a face…sleep, memory, ”…the shore,
and the dark interior.”
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Sean, your comments on VP posts have the music of prose poems. Thank you!
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It was almost a writing prompt, Fred’s poem. and a timeless theme:
Can we ever be settled—our species? But I should’ve been more considerate of this wonderful writer and his great stuff put before us! Lo siento!
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