sixty percent of English words stem
from Latin & like the Romans America
is having trouble now with pax [peace]
which as an object [pacem] resembles
patchwork stitched
like the green & yellow fields
seen from a plane while bellum [war]
slips from the mouth
like beauty bellus a um
as in bellissima es you are so very lovely
like a belly full of comfort
& bells clang out their hearts
or is it their tongues
tolling war or peace all iron ferrum
ferocious fierce feral
as in ploughshares from ferrum
also known as gladius
& this year our gladiolas
raised spiky petals so cheerfully
on the south lawn
you see don’t you how words
lead always back
to sharpness back to blood
& weapons
but arma armorum
sound so much like amor
the syllables of friendship amo amas amat
[you remember?] & arms
across the chest protect
the heart too is an instrument
of war as in courage
bellum bellum oh beautiful
war creaks open
& I know this is not war not
quite not yet only unrest
unfolding our bountiful troops
or copiae the Romans called them
as in cornucopia such wild
abundance of the young fresh
from their grandmother’s quilts
so ready with their hearts
& arms & full bellies.
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Jeri Theriault’s poetry collections include Radost, My Red and the award-winning In the Museum of Surrender. Her poems and reviews have appeared in journals such as The American Journal of Poetry, The Rumpus and the Texas Review. She lives in South Portland, Maine.
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