To soldiers who committed suicide
(National Beechwood Cemetery, Ottawa)
… great trees are prayers.–Tagore
I am looking at the tree planted here
in Ottawa to commemorate soldiers
–who committed suicide,
nothing more or less imaginable.
Soldiers on both sides in Ukraine
and Russia deliberately lined up
–being nowhere else
with drones, guns and rockets
Taking deadly aim if now
determined to end all wars–
not really knowing
how or why I dwell upon.
The firing began from all sides–
they swear to it committing suicide
in the best of all possible
worlds now believe me.
One lifetime only a world without wars,
and peace to sustain, you see–
no other territory to conquer–
the tree growing taller I let you know.
Word sonnets
HEMINGWAY
The
world’s
a
fine
place
and
worth
fighting
for
if
only
I
die
first.
SANCTITY
–after Leonard Cohen
Like
pebbles
in
a
paper
bag
the
monks
polish
one
another
hoping
for
sanctity.
For more on Cyril Dabydeen’s work, please see Ars Notoria, Toronto Metropolitan University, and Peepal Tree Press.
His books include:
- Jogging in Havana
- Black Jesus and Other Stories
- My Brahmin Days
- North of the Equator
- Imaginary Origins: Selected Poems
Drums of My Flesh (which was nominated for an IMPAC/Dublin Prize and won the Guyana Prize for best novel)
Nominated for the Pushcart Prize via Prairie Schooner (USA), Cyril Dabydeen won the Okanagan Fiction Prize (twice) and the Canute A. Brodhurst Prize for fiction. Cyril’s work has appeared in the Oxford, Penguin and Heinemann Books of Caribbean Verse and Fiction. Over 60 literary magazines have featured his work, including Poetry (Chicago), The Critical Quarterly (UK), The Fiddlehead, Prism International, and Canadian Literature.
