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BANEFUL PREDILECTIONS
BANEFUL PREDILECTIONS
Some soldier had to be the first dead man at Omaha Beach.
Mesopotamian gods have their generals behind them with
Their blue coated sons who will have to die at dawn.
The serpent sends out his forked tongue to tickle the air;
It senses the scent of so many dark Hitlers and Huns. Unlike
Us it gives a warning hiss before it strikes its hapless victim.
The growing soul will give his life for the sake of ideals;
Too bad they are governed by men who pull them to misery.
It is the nature of shame to have others die for our sins.
We cast a shadow even when we come out of the womb;
Knowing this, we try to project it on to others; we are not
Given to accept any symbols of our own predilections.
If I capitulate to the serpent and make his lair comfortable
With newspapers to make a cozy nest, it will only increase
His predilections. What it needs is not what it wants
Organization is achieved during wartime, there is full charge,
There is mustering and there is daunting. Such is not the
Case in New Orleans where the aged drown in nursing homes.
The nature of a thing is its predilection; the nature of a tree
Is its fruit; all things act according to its nature. This is why
Humanity has become the lords of the painful endeavor.
The monkey offers itself up to the python. The male spider
Offers itself up to the black widow. Mayans offer up beating
Hearts to their gods and we offer up ourselves to our predelictions.
