you tell me

spoke of peace
and death slipped
out of his forehead

spoke of love
and vipers coiled
round the womb of his lips

spoke of truth
and a multi-colored bird
leaped from the iris

and flew away
belching and vomiting
abstactions

spoke of honor
all the way
to the bank

spoke of righteousness
and with constricted mind
dealt from the bottom of the deck

spoke of unity
and refused to cross
the railroad tracks

spoke of progress
while repeating policies
of destruction

spoke of sacred life
in the secret rooms of death
trusting no one and nothing

spoke of knowledge
terrified of the depths
within

silent at last
the stars sank
into the mutual abyss

the world curiously wrong-side
solitary and untranslatable
in the floating inexplicable