Martin Cook
Martin
(The consecration of the vernal month of March to Mars is a reminder that he was originally a god of sprouting vegetation).
Wanting me to follow him
into his regiment and rise
through intelligence and discipline
to the exalted rank of general,
my father named me after Mars,
the ferocious war god.
Hoping I'd love flora and fauna
more than the blast of trumpets,
my mother consented but,
knowing the deity's ancient
equinoctial and agricultural functions,
smiled secretly and prayed for
grandchildren in her declining years.
Although she never lived
to hold my children in her arms,
she's now smiling somewhere because
Mars has blessed me with six children;
and not as a military man.
Page(s) 26
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