Short burst of eternity

from Daniel Ionita’s “Short Bursts of Eternity”

pro-Patria

I have died once or twice before, 
I believe, 
for the motherland and the nation.
Or so I thought, initially,
giving up my ghost
ravaged by a youthful imbecility, 
bordering on an ecstasy,
akin to that of the nincompoop
and anorexic saints, 
painted willy-nilly on church walls.
These deaths were as senseless
as their so-called 
intercessions for me.