The heart beats regular as gunfire
In the stillness the whole mouth twists
The eyes narrow, knuckle-white
And cling. Outside,
There are arms full of bodies
Hills full of tired armies
'Embrace me now, sweet mother,
I am here in spite of d**h,
Fickle winds or sudden men,
Neither winter time nor war contained me;
I am the holy fist
An embryonic saint and sacrifice -
The final price;
Whose moment dulls the bullet's edge
To drive a wedge between the cradle and ...'
A thin scream splits the skull.
A dog barks, men run.
In the stillness the whole mouth twists;
The face speaks for the landscape.