'Salerno'

 

Naval cannons issue

Their deafening roar;

Tanks and planes add

To the brutal cacophony;

A syzygy of human flesh

With bullet, shell, and shrapnel.

The unholy war of ideologies

Rages on the beaches

Of Salerno,

Democratism versus fascism,

Staining earth and sea

With blood and gore,

Scarring land and soul,

Preparing an easy path

For the fierce and final Beast,

Who smiles with satisfaction

Under the waters

Of the Mediterranean.

 

Seventeen centuries ago,

In that same small place,

The Beast suffered defeat

At the hands

Of three holy maidens –

Archeläis, Thekla, and Susanna.

 . . .

The rest is at https://www.newenglishreview.org/articles/salerno/.

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Holy Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!

Anathema to the Union!