James Aloysius Martin Clancy
Finally, I arrived,
after a dreadful drive
in my V-8 Lancia, across
those bloody mountains,
with the steering,
annoyingly, pulling
to the left.
Soda, the dog,
(I had left his sister
Whiskey behind),
barked joyously, and,
from that moment,
captured the hearts
of our ill-shaven army.
Hola! I said,
Hola! they said, plus
a long rapid waterfall
of inquisitive Spanish.
Yo soy ..ahh .. avi-ah-tory
I explained, arms like wings,
shoot down Fascisti, OK?
They looked at me,
here on this patch of scrubby ground,
far from the bars and sexual promise
of radical gay Paree;
then they looked at the dog,
puzzled, polite,
awaiting explanation.
Three steps forward,
Two steps back --
Follow the flag of freedom,
Comrades, attack!
Useless war, as it
turned out: the bloody
Germans, Italians, simply
won't engage; we are
desperate for victories
in the air, on the ground,
goddam, we are losing.
Lost it.
Wee pudgy Franco
rolled over us,
pushed our people
into nervy, jittery France.
But the next one is coming,
you can feel it.
Britain, 1939:
What can I do for you, Paddy?
Sign me up
in your feckin airforce.
I say, keen, are we?
Hullo, hullo,
seems you're a PAF, old boy.
Premature Anti-Fascist.
Three steps forward,
Two steps back --
Follow the flag of freedom,
Comrades, attack!
In the air,
Poles, Irish, Czechs,
none of us give a damn
for the King or Queen of England,
but we pounce like demons
in a murderous frenzy
on the Jerry 109s.
Operations,
booze, more operations,
day after day, oops,
there goes Johnny,
there goes Phil, poor bloody
bugger. I say, I say,
who's going to pay for the taxi?
Battle of Britain,
Malta, North Africa,
then running cover for the bombers.
Everybody so young, nobody
left over from the old crowd.
Seventeen kills, medals
out me arse. Who cares?
Three steps forward,
Two steps back --
Follow the flag of freedom,
Comrades, attack!
Follow the flag of freedom?
I've been chasing this flapping red rag
all my life, and all I have seen
is death and destruction.
May 1945.
The war is over.
Time to go home.
I have no home.
Time to get a job.
I have no job.
The only thing I can do
is shoot airplanes out of the sky.
