village
john sweet
so you come into this village
and there's nothing but old women
begging for mercy
and babies screaming in the dirt
and you have your orders
and shoot everyone not in uniform
and maybe crush some skulls
under your bootheels
for the hell of it
then burn everything to the ground
because these are your orders too
maybe you have nightmares about this
years later
or maybe not
maybe you beat your wife
or maybe you bring her flowers
every morning
maybe you strangle children
and rape nuns
and bury their bodies
in the soft soil by the river
maybe you realize
that none of this matters
because history has a way
of smothering everything
eventually
and maybe a million years pass by
before you even realize
you're alive
