V.

V.

Genesis 15:13-14
And He said unto Abram: 'Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge; and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

Pop
Small sloe seeds
lodged, undisturbed
in their mummies;

pudding tummies that swallow themselves

forced outwards
shot inwards, and outwards again -
          Can you smell that?

thick and still thickening -
day old black blood
ink and oil and clay
curdling
lying and disturbed in a petrey dish
overseen by a Scientist
a Thinker, a Jacob,
with pale shining hands
(gloved, of course) and how lean!

examining, cross examining, recording the scene
with pane blue pupils -
agate eyes without pain
and dull gold strands -
all sweat and hair

         So tell me then,
What difference is there between Savage and Man?
when
Curiousity adopts it's crueller face
and the only place to retire to
is a frightened mind, which, by design
is perpetually plagued by pale relics
and pale ghosts
          Never yours,
          mine.




D.B.B