Distribution Automatique

Monday, April 19

notebook: (poem) c. 1986

(politics)

Noise substitutes for continued defiance
absent relative appears on t.v.

Ply it out of the fumes of victory
pull meaning from its roots
this is different
rosy carcass signifies rifleman

Doorway symbolizes exit
voice predicts advancing military dictator
mechanical assent begins again
figure it out or don't eat

Yet this pie prophecies a shift in state
this system of definitions fails
to rescue the preening monarch
who marches triumphantly to a hidden lash