Thursday, June 16, 2016
The Man Who Worried Incessantly
simply gave it up before the barbarians
swept through.
What was the use? Most would be beaten
and/or raped.
And the killing would be entirely random.
As Fortune would have it, he was packed
into a truck, heading for a upland meadow.
And firing squad.
When! The Leader spied him grinning insanely.
“I have such mud turtles around me!”
Thus became he a kind of Man Friday,
fetching drinks, and dressing him
for battle.
In the moment, though, helped roll
the bodies downhill.
The leader had volatile moods, but Friday
kept the smile pasted on.
After a year, they invaded the small kingdom
bordering the chaotic one.
A girl brought in after the day’s carnage.
She spoke in monosyllables. Pliant, yet somehow
defiant.
The leader rejected her. “Still water runs deep!
Give me the dizzy, shallow one always!”
But then thought it a Capital joke to give her to Friday.
“The Fool and the Mud Turtle!”
He often asked about the couple, but didn’t like
Friday’s replies. Not funny enough. Broke a pole
over his head one time.
As a result, Luonga and he plotted an escape
to a village so poor no one would ever bother
taking it.
Presently they reside in Gwandenka. That low place, and they, forgotten by God.
The Old Fools is their designation. Even the children and grandchildren call them that.
Labels: barbarians, children, Family, firing squad, grandchildren, invasion, irrational leader, old fools, perpetual war, poor village, survival, war
