Resistance
Author: Bernadette Rule
Originally Published at Peace and Conflict Monitor on: 07/04/2011
Resistance
Not for a bow of the finest yew, not for a quiver full of arrows
fletched to hang like a wing from my shoulder
will I go to war for you
Not for a sword of finest silver, carved at the hilt with the king’s own crown
not for a horse nor a golden medal
will I go to war for you
Not for a solid iron cannon, flared at the mouth like a woman’s kiss
not for a coat of scarlet wool
will I go to war for you
Not for a climbing yellow bi-plane, beautiful as a dragonfly
not for a statue of me in the square
will I go to war for you
Not for the flash & speed of machine-guns, not for tanks or cigarettes
not for a night with Lili Marleen
will I go to war for you
Not for a rocket-propelled grenade, not for the sleekest heat-seeking missile
not for the power to end the world
will I go to war for you
Bio:
Among her many projects and pursuits, Bernadette Rule has six poetry collections published, most recently The Literate Thief: Selected Poems by Bernadette Rule (Larkspur Press, Monterey, Ky. 2007), and hosts an arts-interview program on indi101 called Art Waves.
