Poem
Maxine Beneba Clarke
Contradictio in adjecto
most of us,
it seems ridiculous now,
were there to save all life
from hostes humani generis
which we’d learnt,
way back in week two of class
meant the enemies of mankind
twenty years on,
more than some have faltered
and others weary of the fight
but the conventions,
and declarations,
they still stand
in corpus juris gentium:
international law
leave all civilians untouched, medical
workers should be allowed to do their
jobs, the sick or wounded have the right
to be cared for, and there should, of course,
be no torture
the geneva conventions
they turned platinum, this week
seventy years enshrined in law
we called them
contradictio in adjecto:
the humanitarian rules of war
moulded from a moment
the world pulled together
of common heart, and saw
how animal, unchecked, we are:
our barbarity,
ever portent
it really seems ridiculous now,
but we thought we’d save the world
from hostes humani generis:
the enemies
of us all
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