Thursday, September 3, 2009

The Mustard


HARUSPICES, or
A LIFE IN THE ARTS

Holding a grudge,
a palmed pigeon,
head thumbed down under wing
but breast open
two thumbs through feathers thrust
in and under ribcage just like splitting a crab and you lay it out on the table.

Guts sigh on the altar;
sigh steam jarred in bottles, sold as souls
to tourists and bird-watchers. Kings
ask you to let little lungs sing
ask you to sift truth from bile,
aubergine honesty from the very ducts of the thing.

No talent
that’s innate
just a solid sense of self.
Rum-drunk at your desk all day,
finger picking through bird plop,
telling everyone else what to do with their lives.

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