Meeting the British by Paul Muldoon

 We met the British in the dead of winter.

 The sky was lavender

 and the snow lavender-blue.

 I could hear, far below,

 the sound of two streams coming together

 (both were frozen over)

 and, no less strange,

 myself calling out in French

 across that forest-

 clearing. Neither General Jeffrey Amherst

 nor Colonel Henry Bouquet

 could stomach our willow-tobacco.

 As for the unusual

 scent when the Colonel shook out his hand-

 kerchief: C'est la lavande,

 une fleur mauve comme le ciel.

 They gave us six fishhooks

 and two blankets embroidered with smallpox.


Note on the poem.

Pontiac's Rebellion (1763).

Chief Pontiac of Ottawa led loose confederation of Native American tribes in an uprising against British rule in the North American Territories.  British officers at Fort Pitt attempted to turn the tide of the battle by infecting the besieging Native Americans with smallpox. They used blankets riddled with the virus. Estimated Native American losses were 200 in battle, with additional war-related deaths from disease.