When war resumes in fields of doom The scurvy hound, a dogged loon Gulps down victory's rheum and rouge The smoking tongues of stool and stooge The ruptured hearts of hopeful cubs Spraying blood in the drying mud
The mongrel wretch loses the pack Eluding grenades burning naked laps And sniffing the gristle of cad and goon Their daggers thistles amid corpses strewn He digs up the face of the vain gossoon A crested general from vulgar roots A sorry victor wearing legless boots
II
The famished worm, a spiral bane Finds his way to groin and vein The savory lips of Joe and Jane Their luscious fingers tobacco stained The quid and curd of exploded nerves Once dewy eyes and sturdy thighs
The galling worm makes manifest The rim and brim of unclothed flesh The howling bark of skin undressed A gash, a leak, a tear, a crack When war resumes and trumpets blast For the grim visaged of Bellona's caste The temples crumble like soap and wax These bloated bodies provide a new repast
