TJiREE CHEERS FOR HEROD
We
little children in our white shirts
whose blood-stained patches
have long been washed clean
have assembled here
as instructed
to welcome King Herod
We slaughtered children
have had a special area assigned to us in heaven
we have a forest
full of plants and beasts
and grey grottoes in which we hide
We smallest dead
used to believe in our ignorance
that King Herod
was a wicked man
who had us slaughtered
from sheer savagery and hard-heartedness
But now we've been told:
Just look at the forest in which you live
even the smallest song-bird
eats alive the rainbow-hued insects
so as to grow fat
for the belly of some wildcat
the small snakes swallow mice
the big ones swallow rabbits and other beasts
the wolf who today tears up a sheep
will himself when sick be savaged by his brethren
And likewise the plants and flowers
compete for living space
choking each other grabbing each other's soil
and share of sunlight
And far worse still
