______________________________________________________________________
But I saw the little Ant-men as they ran
Carrying the world’s weight of the world’s filth
And the filth in the heart of Man--
Compressed till those lusts and greeds had a greater heat than that of the Sun
Edith Sitwell, Dirge for the New Sunrise (1948)
Nothing more is needed than a spark --
a collision of metal and ceaseless motion --
for picoseconds to metastisize the air
and devour conscience.
Time enough for deserts to shun
craters lost in entrails of dried mud --
and for oceans to engulf
an endless procession of weighty moments
(wounded instants)
that with wasted purpose
confine megatons of guilt
amid the fallout of our genius.
Drake gave us 10,000 years --
a lifetime of acronyms
adorned in U-235 and WMDs
that swallow whole our GPS cravings.Now, seasons mushroom and roil
beneath a canopy of blistered stars.
October is the month when winter
dusts antelope and Wyoming silos;
when frozen vistas pile
ashen white flakes as headstones --
camouflage for the Cuban gray.
Silent with remorse
Cheyenne's bone-chilled missiles
aimlessly peer into the steely sky --
for we murdered the sun over Nagasaki.
So stalwart and pristine, the ICBMs
row by row by row
rolled out to embrace red stars and red flags
bled from pounded shoes and insolence.
Duck and cover, children --
the approaching midnight is a scary time
when bleak shadows absorb
London and Manhattan's heat,
and shudder dirty dreams
scattered among dusty debris.
And be forewarned
when you bow beside the ruffled bedsheets
and implore the eternal abyss outside
to let you discern the commands
from the same reassuring voice
that emboldened Joan of Arc,
just remember, even as a saint
she died in her own agony of flames.



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I don't want to make light of your wonderful comment, though, or leave you with the impression I don't take genuinely feel complimented and appreciative of your sentiments. 











38 old applause
