12 November 2013

No War Movies


In war the dead are usually the male of the human species although this does not hold true with animals, and I have frequently seen dead mares among the horses. An interesting aspect of war, too, is that it is only there that the naturalist has an opportunity to observe the dead of mules. In twenty years of observation in civil life I had never seen a dead mule and had begun to entertain doubts as to whether these animals were really mortal. On rare occasions I had seen what I took to be dead mules, but on close approach these always proved to be living creatures who seemed to be dead through their quality of complete repose. But in war these animals succumb in much the same manner as the more common and less hardy horse.

 - Ernest Hemingway - A Natural History of the Dead


No war movies,
Hanging around a cenotaph
Or anything for me like usual
This Remembrance Day.

Raised a glass
To my first dog Strangler,
Who died on a sunny, windy
November 11th many years ago.

Raised another
To my grandfather
Who fought and lived
Through the second war.

Hate and war, the only things...


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

FMG Beer - I thought you were older than my kids!! I hoisted a couple more to the hope there would be no more of this kinda crap. Delusional I guess.

Mr. Beer N. Hockey said...

Quite.