Short Poems

This once protected flesh the War-god uses
Like any gadget of a great machine;
This flesh once pitied where a gnat had been,
And kissed with passion on invisible bruises.

This is Willie Walker, and that's Tam Sim,
He ca'd him to a feast, and he ca'd him;
He sticket him on the spit, and he sticket him;
And he owre him, and he owre him,
And he owre him, and he owre him, etc.

This Englishwoman is so refined
She has no bosom and no behind.

For the anniversary of January 2, 1821, I have a small grateful anticipation, which in case of accident, I add —

This day, of all our days, has done
The worst for me and you: —
'T is just six years since we were one ,
And five since we were two .

A superhero awakens, lying wounded in the grass in Couch Park, across from the synagogue. She sits up slowly and looks about, puzzled to find her head throbbing, muscles sore, her multicolored spandex suit ripped and stained. She's hungry. She can't remember the last time she ate. Hell, she can't remember anything. How did I get here? I'm a superhero, surely, but which one? What are my special powers?

This bears the seal of immortality,
For every soul that reads it feels the search
Of answering thought, and thousands there may be
Saying at once, " How straight that looks at me! "
Nor child nor fool it leaveth in the lurch;
But, like the eyes that mark great Guido's fame,
It follows every one, as if by name.

This ancient hag
Who sits upon the ground
Selling her scanty wares
Day in, day round,
Has known high wind-swept mountains,
And the sun has made
Her skin so brown.

Thirty white horses
Upon a red hill,
Now they stamp,
Now they champ,
Now they stand still.
Teeth

These days the papers in the street
leap into the air or burst across the lawns —
not a scrap but has the breath of life:
these in a gust of wind
play about,
those for a moment lie still and sun themselves.

There were three young women of Birmingham,
And I know a sad story concerning 'mdash:
— They stuck needles and pins
— In the reverend shins
Of the Bishop engaged in confirming 'mdash.