In Me The Tiger Sniffs

Everyone Suddenly Burst Out Singing; And I Was Filled With Such Delight As Prisoned Birds Must Find In Freedom, Winging Wildly Across The White Orchards And Dark-green Fields; On—on—and Out Of Sight. Everyone’s Voice Was Suddenly Lifted; And Beauty Came Like The Setting Sun: My Heart Was Shaken With Tears; And Horror Drifted Away ... O, But Everyone Was A Bird; And The Song Was Wordless; The Singing Will Never Be Done.

I Am Making This Statement As An Act Of Wilful Defiance Of Military Authority, Because I Believe That The War Is Being Deliberately Prolonged By Those Who Have The Power To End It. I Am A Soldier, Convinced That I Am Acting On Behalf Of Soldiers. I Believe That This War, On Which I Entered As A War Of Defence And Liberation, Has Now Become A War Of Aggression And Conquest.

But I've Grown Thoughtful Now. And You Have Lost Your Early-morning Freshness Of Surprise At Being So Utterly Mine: You've Learned To Fear The Gloomy, Stricken Places In My Soul, And The Occasional Ghosts That Haunt My Gaze.

Soldiers Are Dreamers; When The Guns Begin They Think Of Firelit Homes, Clean Beds, And Wives.

The Dead...are More Real Than The Living Because They Are Complete.