Macbush

Act IV, Scene 5

A mess hall in Baghdad. Troops dressed in camouflage wait for Thanksgiving dinner.

CHAPLAIN: Dread Sovereign, how much are we bound to Heaven
In daily thanks, that gave us such a prince,
Not only good and wise, but most religious.

1ST SOLD.: Pleads he in earnest? Look upon his face;
His eyes do drop no tears, his prayers are in jest:
His words come from his mouth, ours from our breast.
He prays but faintly, we pray with heart and soul.

2ND SOLD.: There's not a soldier of us all that
In the thanksgiving before the meat,
Do relish the petition that prays for peace.

1ST SOLD.: I never heard any soldier dislike it.

2ND SOLD.: I believe thee: Thou never wast where grace was said.

1ST SOLD.: 'Tis a vile thing to die,
When men are unprepared and look not for it.

2ND SOLD.: Methinks I could not die anywhere so contented
As in the king's company,
His cause being just and his quarrel honorable.

3RD SOLD.: That's more than we know.

2ND SOLD.: We are the king's subjects. If his cause be wrong,
Our obedience wipes the crime of it out of us.

1ST SOLD.: But if the cause be not good,
The king himself hath a heavy reckoning to make.
I am afeared there are few die well
Who die in battle. Now, if these men do not die well,
It will be a black matter for the king that led them.

4th SOLD.: In Fallujah, a legion of fiends environ'd me
And howled such hideous cries that I could not believe I was not in hell.

1ST SOLD.: We are but men: What so many may do,
We have done. An army cannot rule 'em.

Macbush bursts from behind a curtain, holding a turkey on a tray.

MACBUSH: Now good digestion wait on appetite,
And good health on both!
Ourself will mingle and play the gentle host.

Flashbulbs go off. Soldiers stand to clap. Macbush hands turkey to an aide, then holds up his arms.

MACBUSH: At home, there is much murmuring
Against the holy cause ye strive in,
Much pointing of fingers
At pointless death fashioned by the enemy.
The cry is ever, "They come!"
Let them come! They come like sacrifices to smoky war,
All hot and bleeding will we offer them.
'Tis better that the enemy seek us.
So shall he waste his means, weary his soldiers,
Whilst we are full of rest, defense and nimbleness.

More applause, then the men begin to eat.

MACBUSH (to his aide): Go, break among the press
And find a way out,
For I must be gone ere 'tis known I was ever here.