This once we will vanquish violence,
stake the heart & cross
the spirit's path

so it won't rise, that godawful
gorge hot & grainy
moving against the constricted throat

This once we will forgo
theater (that's
tribute from a poet,

ask Dickey or Bly)
I tell you
27 children is reason enough

to burn certain books,
go outside,
see how the sky looks

when day breaks thru
O creeping mist of the midnight unspeakable, lie
still upon the lilies & dissolve