The Beginning of the No

the beginning of the "NO"



Knights without armor
scrounge rubble. Weld trash
for chamfrons, crinets, tasses, cuirasses;
are told it’s tough. That’s just
war, baby.
Grail Knights without a quest

on another false crusade
as all crusades were false;
in that old land, that cradle land.
Still, not enough

have learned what comes
when Valkyries choose
fake heroes who so much like Joshua

salt the earth, this time
with depleted uranium.
Some awaken to the bad deal

the recruiter sold like a bad Ford
that clunks, burns oil and shudders
down the Baghdad road.
How to go to college
or Valhalla in that

awful special tribute of the
tri-fold flag and pomp.
Formalized and useless

tragedies of broken families
mirror Ali. Ali who in the press
forever holds out burnt-off stumps

to me; measure of our success, reflected
in that other mirror of crushed walls,
poisoned wells and burnt over
wadis, in those deepest dark eyes.


Gene Grabiner