[I premiered this song at the 2018 Ernest Hemingway Conference in Paris, July 25.]
The orders came down when the Huns broke through Caporetto,
Dropping some gas shells and raining down fire from the sky.
There’s just one job: get your damn trucks off the Bainsizza,
Bring down the wounded and leave all the dead where they lie.
“Viva la pace!” they cry. “Andiamo a casa!”
They throw down their guns in the mud and the blood and take flight.
A fifty mile trail from Cormons on to old Pordenone.
Women and babies and horses and dogs in the night.
Farewell to what’s left of the mountain of San Gabriele.
Farewell to the barbed wire, farewell to the cholera’s charms.
Farewell to the trenches, farewell to the rocks on the Carso.
I’m making a separate peace.
I’m making a separate peace.
I’m making a separate peace.
Farewell to arms.
So your trucks are all stuck in the muck and you’re fucked at Codroipo.
The carabinieri, they’re sure you’re a Jerry spy.
Dragged down to a drumhead trial by the cold Tagliamento.
“I don’t like your accent, signore. For this you must die.”
Farewell to what’s left of the mountain of San Gabriele.
Farewell to the barbed wire, farewell to the cholera’s charms.
Farewell to the trenches, farewell to the rocks on the Carso.
I’m making a separate peace.
I’m making a separate peace.
I’m making a separate peace.
Farewell to arms.
Copyright © 2018 by Michael Kim Roos
