Contesting the Homeland
En pointe, à pied,
the soldiers pirouette
across no man’s land,
cutting entrechats over barbed
wire loops and the remains
of comrades potted deep
in mud;
his foxhole abandoned
and gaping clear, that one
saddest private took the barbs
with a grand jeté;
arms curling his head,
he joined the ballerina
battalion—
rifles at arms,
they rained down fire,
chipping out the dunes
before the rolling tides of home,
helmets cloaked
with the ash of death, and the wells
of madness carved around
their eyes
The captain
opened his umbrella, lofting high
upon the air,
and they followed,
oh they followed—
singing of the cannons
in the clean,
thin light
A multi-media artist living near Washington, DC, Jeff Bagato produces poetry and prose as well as electronic music and glitch video. He has published nineteen books, all available through the usual online markets, including And the Trillions (poetry), Kill Claus! (fiction), and Computing Angels (fiction). A blog about his writing and publishing efforts can be found at http://jeffbagato.com.
