alongside a tallowpot bothering nobody, asking with a grin,

“What do you know today for sure?”

And the answer came with a grin and a slow finality:

“Not a damn thing.”

The innocent bystander is not always so innocent

as he looks: he can tell a hawk from a handsaw

and is ready to swear on a stack of Bibles that

a horse chestnut and a chestnut horse are never

the same: he may ask “Is that so?” and if you

prove it then ask “What of it?” having notions

of his own: he is careless slinging grammar around

knowing “Some of ’em that ain’t sayin’ ain’t ain’t eatin’.”

6

There are ideas tied up with dreams.

Too often these dreams are wild and crazy.

They get going in the blood of men.

Then history begins popping.

Then hell breaks loose.

Fast or slow the hell spends itself.

Then everybody takes a rest and wonders

when and where hell will break loose next.

This is the chart of the fever and curse

of pre-war, war, post-war, and again later

pre-war, war, post-war.

7

Any mother might be hearing her boy child now asking:

“Mama what is this supreme sacrifice I hear about?”

And answering, “Supreme sacrifice is when you go to

war and die for your country.”

Any mother might be saying now:

“The cool music of deep hearts is on me.

The fathoms of ancient fears are on me.”

Nearer than any mother’s heart wishes

now is heartbreak time.

8

Be steady now and keep your shirt on

like George Washington did when

he heard the crying out loud in his time—

would that be good advice?

Be cool as death now

Like Old Abe Lincoln kept cool

when a hurricane began snarling—

would that be good advice?

Try to figure it out for yourself

remembering figures can lie

and liars can figure

and some promises are not worth

the paper they are written on.

They are changing the maps

of Europe, Asia, and Africa—

they are changing the maps like always.

Over pieces of land they are wrangling,

over iron and oil and fat lands,

over breed and kin and race pride,

over poisons, balloons, baboon reachings—

and the little wars are leading on

into the big war to come.

Who could have given us the lowdown

on why Mussolini

poured troops and planes into Spain?

Who explained why Hitler

threw heavy guns and flying bombers

to the help of Franco

and the Mohammedan Moors of France

and the cause of Liberty and God in Spain

and the iron works

and the mineral deposits of Spain?

How will his slogans die

and his abracadabra vanish?

9

Be steady now and keep your shirt on.

Be cool as death if you can.

Try to figure it out for yourself.

Behind this awful music

is a more awful music to come?

They are changing the maps like always.

Study the make of a gas mask

how to wear it over your face