Patrick

**The Battle of Gallipoli**
Poem-War is Not War is Not

War is not a delicate procedure— it is not the cold silver of a stainless steel tray, in an operating room, upon which a scalpel waits, in anticipation.

There are no kind war gods who euthanize the troops before lovingly cutting them open to expose their red flesh, before pushing bullets, like buttons, into their hearts and stomachs.

Death is not a concerned mother who puts her children to sleep with powerful sedatives before she hacks off their limbs with sanitized blades, leaving them to wake to the real nightmare.

There are no sweet angels who sing to the glory of God while heavenly fire reigns down from the sky, burning everything in a sulfuric kiss.

Poets do not strategize and scatter dust on the battlefields, to make it seem as though a battle has been there.

We come after and we speak truth.

"Battle At Gallipoli, 1915," EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2001).

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