Monday, May 24, 2010

They are hostile nations




BY MARGARET ATWOOD

i


In view of the fading animals

the proliferation of sewers and fears

the sea clogging, the air

nearing extinction


we should be kind, we should

take warning, we should forgive each other


Instead we are opposite, we

touch as though attacking,


the gifts we bring

even in good faith maybe

warp in our hands to

implements, to manoeuvres



ii


Put down the target of me

you guard inside your binoculars,

in turn I will surrender


this aerial photograph

(your vulnerable

sections marked in red)

I have found so useful


See, we are alone in

the dormant field, the snow

that cannot be eaten or captured



iii


Here there are no armies

here there is no money


It is cold and getting colder,


We need each others’

breathing, warmth, surviving

is the only war

we can afford, stay


walking with me, there is almost

time / if we can only

make it as far as


the (possibly) last summer



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