Virgo Season Takes Down Poland
Hillary Smith-Maddern
“The victor will not be asked afterwards whether he told the truth.” —Adolf Hitler
On the last night of his life, Franciszek Honiok sleeps
in a filing room, the air thick with the smell of paper
that no one will bother to read. Morning offerings—
the sun’s breath on his lips, the rustle of leaves—
brush against his dreams. He is back in the fields,
his mother bending over the tomatoes,
lavender headscarf catching the wind.
He recalls his first love riding her bicycle,
how the dust swirled at her ankles, how she tucked
her hair behind her ear as if blessing the world.
Even the potatoes, their stubborn roots clinging to earth,
remind him of God’s patience, the way soil cradles
everyone’s feet with the same supple hands.
Now, in this room filled with cataloged cruelties
that will soon burn, his hands tremble over a gun
he has not touched in fourteen years. The cold weight
is as unwelcome as the memory of war—its stench,
its hunger, its relentless disassembly of men.
He would defend Poland with a pitchfork, an apple, and
his favorite hand-knit sweater if he had to. But no one has asked him.
Wars are not won without allegiance or a very grim reaping.
The radios exalt the withering leaves,
praise the dirt for its willingness to consume.
Honiok swears he hears the sky crying, even after
the bullet plants its malignant seed, even after
his body is raised like a banner, desecrated,
so that the Schleswig-Holstein can slip her mooring.
Before he dies, he stares down the cobblestones,
grieving the one thing he thought would bring him peace.
Hillary Smith-Maddern is an educator whose work explores the intersections of identity, nature, and social dynamics. She is a proud cat owner and an avid collector of neglected plants. When not writing, she can be found exploring obscure topics, hiking in the mountains, or passionately critiquing the patriarchy. Her poetry has appeared in Only Poems, Rogue Agent, and The Disappointed Housewife, among others. She lives in Western Massachusetts.
