The Other Cheek

As soon as war breaks out
I turn the other cheek,
I turn the other fifty cheeks.

I’m borrowing them
from the young men
and young women who will die

fighting these wars that break out
so that fat, rich old men
can make a profit.

As soon as war breaks out
I turn the other hundred cheeks
I borrow them from the soldiers

who must pay with their lives
and from the wounded, disfigured,
paralized, the living vegetables

who must pay the price
of the rich man’s vice
as soon as war breaks out.