Bio
Rohan Buettel lives in Canberra, Australia. His haiku appear in Australian and international journals (including Presence, Cattails and The Heron's Nest). His longer poetry appears in various journals, including Rattle, Shot Glass, Meanjin, Meniscus and Quadrant.
Rohan Buettel
The Dance
Step-ball-change, another dance plays out
stepping towards violence from the air,
pivoting on the ball of the foot
when the use of asymmetric warfare
results in a standoff, unable to be resolved
as the other side has different values,
considers material prosperity
a secondary matter to moral purity
and is willing to suffer longer
for the sake of an ideal.
The leader looks for an escape hatch
out of the quagmire, a change in direction.
The easiest way to divert attention —
start another war.