Day and night this queer defenseless army
Of city, town and country folk
Heard the distant rumble of tanks
Earth-machinery digging trenches
And foundations for heavy artillery
Fat bombing Falcons circling to land.
A portion of their nation's immense
War-making muscle gathered and flexed
South of the city, directly in their path.
Scarcely three days’ walk away.
Weeks before, the General had dropped
A bomber load of non-nuclear devices
Miles from the marchers.
The Outsiders, most of them witness to war
And the awesome spectacle of bombs exploding
For the first time, fell to the ground
Momentarily stunned.
But as they grew accustomed
To the smoke and the ebbing roar
Slowly picked themselves up
Curiously watching the cloud
Mushroom into the evening sky
And ambled onward.