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DIANE BRIGGS

"They said"

I sit here listening

to Eric Bogle's words

about young men

sent off

to fight a war

"they said"

would end all wars.

 

They waltzed Matilda

over foreign battle fields

until

the dance was done

and they were done

and "they said"

that the war was won.

 

And they came back

with missing arms and legs

and lungs full of gas

and minds full of moving pictures

they couldn't bear to watch

and when "they said"

'Lest we forget'

they wished they could

 

And now Matilda dances

that slow waltz

with a wolf in sheep's clothing

hiding behind

a burning Bush

of smoke and mirrors

and "they said"

and "they said"

and "they said"!