Poem for Tuesday and Headlines

From War Is Kind
By Stephen Crane

Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind.
Because your lover threw wild hands toward the sky
And the affrighted steed ran on alone,
Do not weep.
War is kind.

Hoarse, booming drums of the regiment
Little souls who thirst for fight,
These men were born to drill and die
The unexplained glory flies above them
Great is the battle-god, great, and his kingdom--
A field where a thousand corpses lie.

Do not weep, babe, for war is kind.
Because your father tumbled in the yellow trenches,
Raged at his breast, gulped and died,
Do not weep.
War is kind.

Swift, blazing flag of the regiment
Eagle with crest of red and gold,
These men were born to drill and die
Point for them the virtue of slaughter
Make plain to them the excellence of killing
And a field where a thousand corpses lie.

Mother whose heart hung humble as a button
On the bright splendid shroud of your son,
Do not weep.
War is kind.


Kristof in the Times on lessons from the Trojan War for Gulf Wars II: Clone of the Attack...

Krugman on the wars we can expect with Syria and Iran next...

...and the only piece of good news I could find in the paper this morning, on the failure of Bush's plan to drill for oil in the Arctic wildlife sanctuary.

Also, because smiles are necessary, a forward from a friend from the March 7 issue of Entertainment Weekly (which I read, but I missed because I have no interest in Daredevil), filmmaker Kevin Smith discussing Daredevil II and the need for a new villain: "Matt Damon would be hot. America wants to see the inevitable: Ben Affleck and Damon making out."

And pointed out by , The Very Secret Diary of Dubya!