Causa Belli

They read good books, and quote, but never learn


a language other than the scream of rocket-burn.


Our straighter talk is drowned but ironclad:


Elections, money, empire, oil and Dad.



British Poet Laureate Andrew Motion sticks it to George Bush in this 30-word poem that ran on the front page of Thursday's Guardian, creating something of a stir (wait, aren't poets supposed to be charming and benign?). The title is a Latin reference for "pretexts of war."