� and we carried heavy flags raised
high, and they fluttered in the wind,
and the golden dust settled
on our shoulders, and our chief�s face
shined, the eyes of the bloodlappers
gleamed like steel, and thieves
fought, not dividing their plunder,
while buzzards divided up their intestines

what a time it was! everything was clear.
The skies were clear,
the steppes wide, backs strong,
and women when we looked at them
fell over backwards. And our narrow-eyed horde
multiplied, like a deck of cards
in a fakir�s hands. What a time it was.
We were the arrow, you the bow

you were the swamp and we the mountain
and we carried your impaled heads
so you would see the world from up higher
like a trick, like a game, like a deception,
like a woman, like a flag, like food,
we were a mountain and you a swamp,
you were a trap and we animals,
we were powerful. The trap closed.



� 2004 by Gintaras Grajauskas