Gored

(on U.S. military's 'Operation Matador' in western Iraq)

By flashing lights, insurgents warned their friends
The U.S. onslaught was about to start
As mercenaries in our army's pay
Tore once again into a foreign heart,

Recalling how some centuries ago,
Another light was cast across a bay
To tell how foreign troops planned their advance
As British occupiers got underway.

That light, a good deed in a naughty world,
Prompted the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere,
Set into gallop sparking horses' hooves
To free a land of tyranny and fear.

King George's despotism, this time round,
Is codenamed 'Operation Matador,'
But some bulls, with the odds against them yet
May live, their tormentors to gore.

Doubtless, Iraqi bards and future sages
Shall tell of brave deeds in Arabic pages,
As Longfellow, to warn the coming ages,
Recounted how the redcoats paid sin's wages.

May 2005