PEACE
[Epilogue from Timothy Mayer's production of Aristophanes' "Peace" ]
Apologies to Aristophanes
We feel we must extend the end he'd planned
And graft some new material on his grand
Finale, as a warning. We too hate war
And think the country's governed by a house of
whores.
Write your petition. Fine, sign it.
But while you scream for Peace: define it.
Wars have been stopped before, as we well know
And in each case the only thing to go
Were soldiers drawn back to their native coast.
What caused the war went on quite unopposed.
We who'd left foreign cities bombed and charred
Squabbled like chickens in our own back yard
And helped the cause of war.
You really want Peace? Ask for much more!
Ask for your real goals first! When them you find,
Pray to the God of Thieves, you poor mankind.
(song) You can treat this
As an indis
cretion or a joke:
One man's meat
One man's meat
Makes another man choke.
Who can blame you
If your look-outs
Happen to be your own?
One man's laugh
One man's laugh
Makes another man groan
Lips you've kissed
Will mouth an epitaph
"Here lies a valiant appetite at least."
But who'd insist
The fatted calf should laugh
Because he's heard there's going to be a feast?
For as long as things
keep going on
The way they do
One man's meat
One man's meat
One man's meat might be you
- Timothy Mayer
|