by Dan Campion

The news is overwhelming, no?
I’m sure all readers feel it’s so.
But think of Aristophanes,
The dean of wartime comedies,
And Margaret Dumont and Groucho,
Freedonia’s patroness and gaucho,
Brecht, Shaw, Kubrick, Country Joe,
Joe Heller, Twain, Bierce, Chaplin, Fo—
Of all the choruses who wore
Wry faces in the face of war.
And never doubt the force of wit
To hug that beast and throttle it.