Trenches

When Ahab’s son goes to war

Without enough water to cross 

The desert, the prophet tells him,

“Dig trenches.”

These fill with water enough

To let the men and beasts live,

And the redness in the early 

Morning light tricks the enemy.

Believing the red to be blood,

Their enemy defeated,

They attack unawares and are killed.

It’s an amusing story.

Juxtaposed against the Great War,

Also known for trenches,

These ones filled with mud and slime,

Running, in truth, with blood.

The mind cannot comprehend.