“A few excitable Catholics and ardent Socialists think this war matters, but for the general public it’s just a bunch of bloody dagoes killing each other.”
Randolph Churchill
What did they know or care about Spain?
The cause was much greater than that.
Conservatives,monarchists,Catholics,
Paladins saddling up to slay the dragon,
They brought their rage from many lands,
To the proving ground.
In Toledo Republican militiamen,
Purging the city of their enemies,
Search the house of Roy Campbell,
And rooting through his library
Seize on a copy of the Divine Comedy
Shouting, “Italian!Fascist!”
The squad levell their rifles
At the foreigner, eager to shoot.
Quick-wittedly,the poet
Grabs a Dostoyevsky novel
Off another shelf,and roars back,
“Russian!Communist!”
A sticky moment.
Then fingers ease off triggers,
And the militia,
Deciding he must be neutral,
Turn and leave the house.
Outside in the street
Slaughtered Carmelite monks lie in a row
Under a tarpaulin.
No comments:
Post a Comment