This fear has a name:
First ISIS, then simply IS
A present tense to be
For this present Hell of non-being.
Grave rumours flap like bats into news
What fresh rotting of humanity's corpse
Will turn this morning's meal to maggots in my mouth?
They are the ones beyond the lines we set;
They are the fanged devils we brought skulking forth from
below deck -
The great ship called Civilization that we
Crewed with slaves, drove with war-winds, rigged with greed,
Is piloted by madmen.
And what do they erect in honour of all our interventions?
What great totem to our mighty aborting of peace?
An unroosted bird
An unplucked branch
A child's head on a spike.
