It’s unbecoming
to find you
in a place of entertainment
trying to forget
the tiny horror
of the last million years
Most of all
I dislike the brave violin
scraping against
the side of the massacre
as if to infer
that the killers are weak
and the victims will win
It complicates the nightmare
with a dream
It turns the nightmare
outside-in
Discard the violin
And put away your courage
Haven’t you noticed
how the thugs
and the blood-drinkers
are drawn to your courage
It is a provocation
in their sight
Give it back to the rocks
to the mud
to that which supports the mud
End this ugly experiment
with the human heart
Please do not tell me again
about the lonely railway station
where we undressed each other
in a hail of apple seeds
And this voice of ignorant
understanding –
experience the deep humiliation
as the tidal silence
refuses to affirm it
Stand there
in the vanity
of your solitude
Summon the short-lived tears
the shallow laughter
the comforts
that obey your suffering
that embrace your defeat
Stand there
goosefleshed and proud
high-breasted one
in the erotic rags
of religion
I sincerely hope
we do not have to meet again
at the next amusement
– 1979