People shouting in your face by Michael Brett

The one really useful thing I learned from the Army Is how to say nothing when people shout in your face. (In London, people who do this can sometimes be mad Or carrying weapons.) At school, we'd go to training camps where a man Would shout in your face if you missed a drill move Or your rifle wasn't straight. Justice, fairness seemed to be fugitives in the wet surrounding woods And saying anything just made things worse. You just had to stand there and take it. In films, gunfire has noble qualities, like bugle fanfares And the flapping of flags at sunset But they are all just machines that shout in your face, Or try to kill you. On the tube home, a nutter shouts in my face. I look at him. I change trains. I say nothing. ~ Copyright © 2009 - Michael Brett Published: 12/10/09   ·  Author's Page   ·  Next Poem