Apology of Genius

Ostracized as we are with God—

          The watchers of the civilized wastes

          reverse their signals on our track

 

          Lepers of the moon

          all magically diseased

          we come among you

          innocent

          of our luminous sores

          unknowing

          how perturbing lights

          our spirit

          on the passion of Man

          until you turn on us your smooth fools’ faces

          like buttocks bared in aboriginal mockeries

          We are the sacerdotal clowns

          who feed upon the wind and stars

          and pulverous pastures of poverty

          Our wills are formed

          by curious disciplines

          beyond your laws

          You may give birth to us

          or marry us

          the chances of your flesh

          are not our destiny—

          The cuirass of the soul

          still shines—

          And we are unaware

          if you confuse

          such brief

          corrosion with possession

          In the raw caverns of the Increate

          we forge the dusk of Chaos

          to that imperious jewellery of the Universe

                 —the Beautiful—

          While to your eyes

                      A delicate crop

          of criminal mystic immortelles

          stands to the censor’s scythe.