Victory

Today I won
My war

Countless years I lived
On tuna fish and
Humus
Always moving
So they could not aim
Sleeping by day
Fighting by night

Not one day
Not one
I did not spill blood
One arm ruined
An eye socket
Smashed
I have crawled through
Fetid mangrove swamp
Torn leeches from bleeding armpits

I have killed with
A knife
A necklace
A book of poetry
And a spoon.
Whatever works, they say
It's all good
If you make it home
Alive

Some years alone
In darkened caves
No fire to betray
Licking moss and
Waiting

Some years pressed
Into stinking trucks
Rotting canvas
Diesel smoke and
Human stench
My neighbor's rifle
Stabbing me
With each jerk of
Screeching, skinny tires

Some years
I dug a shallow grave
And hid in it
In muddy garb
Cutting strips of burlap
Until I looked like a shrub
My enemy, overrunning us,
Walked on me
Thinking me a corpse
I ate rats then
Caught them with my teeth
      Immobilized
By cold and pain

Ash and dust rain down
Empty wasteland where
Cities once stood
The soil is crusted with
Thick white salt
No tree remains
No sheep or goats
The air still, no bird song
I razed the world
To win my war

Today I won my war.
I know it
Because there is no-one
Left to fight.