November’s Quadrennial Martyrs

by T.P. Wilkinson / March 6th, 2016

Who
were the saints,
those poor
excuses
for futile
hope
for
wishes bleached
by history’s evacuation?
Then
maternity
was sacrificed
for vain
eternity
and counter-revolution.
Jealous
chimes
praised
horrid
crimes
laundered
in the New York Times.
When
they again go in
(marching)
who
in their number
wants to be
hanging
from crosses,
staining ballots
sustaining malice
from sea
to shining sea.

Dr T.P. Wilkinson writes, teaches History and English, directs theatre and coaches cricket between the cradles of Heine and Saramago. He is also the author of Church Clothes, Land, Mission and the End of Apartheid in South Africa. Read other articles by T.P..

This article was posted on Sunday, March 6th, 2016 at 8:04am and is filed under Poetry.