Poem of William Hermanns

                Organized Beast

Organized cruelty invites the beast
and the dwellers of Hell to a bombing feast.
Youth, make a vow to march no more!
I, too, marched once—oh prayerful fake—
we were blessed with the Cross to shake and break
the walls of Verdun under flaming roar

of shells. Oh business with Krupp's steel
and the Kaiser's preachers to bring to heal
French mining wealth beyond the Rhine!
Some million youths were used as dung
while the Cross and the Kaiser's picture hung
in homes. Heil Kaiser, lift our stein!

The Cross and the pulpit hang in the noose
of the State when sentiment runs loose.
Where is the conscience, we may ask.
Are we youth still entitled to breathe
or is there a Cross and we put beneath
while the preacher wears a prayer mask?

"Thou shall not kill" was never preached
in any war. But hellfire reached
into our conscience to burn it out.
From Verdun to Vietnam, I witnessed the beast
inviting Hell to a civilized feast.
Come youth, march through the world and shout,

"Away with the better-than-thou elite
with folded hands and flag-waving creed!
We are entitled to live.
Away with the State of traditional mold
that has on us youth a scarlet hold!
Not death but life we give!"

                                William Hermanns    [P489]