Poem Submission by Agatha-Eliza Laposi

[Agatha-Eliza Laposi]

unpublished poem

_________________

Orphaned

The soldiers know nothing of us;

but they're here to obey the orders.

But we know who they are..their

uniform, their foreign accent, the way

the earth trembles under their feet

when they march through the village,

their unbrearable laughter, the arrogant tunes

when they get drunk at night in the tavern,

the pestilential smell of death reeking when they

go through the door with a list of

"rebels' names" in their hands, one 

pompously mocking us, while the other's

reading the infamous sentence.

He's done with it; his lips are still shaking...

I could tell he's ashamed. "The young

wolf clad in sheep's skin is one of us.

He is just as guilty as the rest. A traitor this lad is!"

my mother thundered, clenching her fists

"It's been long since we've last heard 

from your father"..she paused.." or got a word 

from your gallant brothers."

With sickels these butchers have come to remove

our roots, to pluck the threads of our culture out

like useless, poisonous weeds. They have come

to strip this land bare of its symbols, language,

name, history, and its devoted people.

[Agatha-Eliza Laposi]

The poem is unpublished! I forgot to mention that again :(