Gavrilo Princip
Richard Norman

On a visit to Sarajevo

Me finishing my sandwich
Is Franz Ferdinand's last wish.
This very quickly is the story how
Slack arms make the man look taller.

In the four years I spent in prison
Following that moment, I often thought about
My mother's home in Tuzla.
A house built out of rubble.

Wars are like the weather.
One fine day a gun goes off, the clouds of heaven open;
The horizon sinks into a trench.

They pull my arms behind my back
As if to break them off.

© 2006 Richard Norman