Poems from The Orpheus Sedan\\

BE HE EZRA POUND, KENNEDY OR KING\\

The martyr wears a crown\\
bestowed by circumstance.\\

The old ceremonial Lincoln\\
is the car in which his widow rides\\
remembering:\\

Reality, he defined as: "The force\\
of an old proverb, driven home."\\

And now, amid the gleam\\
of black upholstery and windshield rain,\\
his words return,\\

nailing down--driving home\\
his body banked with flowers.\\

___

BEHIND THE DREAM VAN\\

At dawn the dung\\
is jewelled with flies.\\

She runs across the fairgrounds\\
to the bus beside the river\\
where the gypsies sleep,\\

pushes back the rusty screen\\
and steps inside.\\

"Mama?"\\

The carousel ponies\\
with empty saddles\\
show their teeth.\\

The Bearded Lady,\\
smiling faintly,\\
sleeps.\\

___
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order: [The Orpheus Sedan|http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0006ELQU8/thewastewatereng]
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