An Heroic Poem

POLISH RABBIT

POLISH RABBIT
Fought the Red tanks
That rumbled
Down the streets
Of Warsaw
POLISH RABBIT
Stood unflinching
In their path
His teeth bared
His molting fur on end
POLISH RABBIT
Did not turn tail
He did not run rabid

On that fated day
POLISH RABBIT
Led the band
Of Polish Youth
Led the children
Clutching flaming
Volatile cocktails
POLISH RABBIT cried
"Poland Free"
"Poland Unoccupied"
And his followers
Bellowed
"Brave Hare"
"Patriotic Cottontail"

The then acclaimed
POLISH RABBIT
Turned a Polish streetcorner
And stood
Face to face
Trembling whisker
To steaming metal
With the Russian tanks
The communists guffawed
They swung their turrets
And slowly lowered
Their hollowed snouts
They took a good bead
On the stoic
POLISH RABBIT

"ALL POLISH CROWDS ARE TO DISPERSE."

POLISH RABBIT
Cocked his floppy ears
And tossed
His petrol bottle
It sailed straight
It sailed true
POLISH RABBIT
Gave a war cry
And the bottle
Clanged off
Russian armor
It danced in the sun
And lay spinning
In the street

The Russian tanks
Shook with laughter
They opened up
And spat
On the Hare
They riddled him
With insults
And scarred him
With their treads
They smeared his Polish blood
Into the bricks
Of the streets of Warsaw

And after POLISH RABBIT
Was swept away
His remains scoured
From the cracks of Warsaw
The Russian tanks
Established a home
Fixing bowls of cabbage
And loaves of black bread
Always
With the feet
Of POLISH RABBITS
Hanging about their throats.
And their Russian eyes
Focused on the borders
Of Hungary