{"id":14241,"date":"2022-06-15T08:55:12","date_gmt":"2022-06-15T06:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/egophobia.ro\/?p=14241"},"modified":"2022-06-15T08:55:12","modified_gmt":"2022-06-15T06:55:12","slug":"poems-by-robert-beveridge-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/?p=14241","title":{"rendered":"poems by Robert Beveridge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Four Wheel Drive<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That moment<\/p>\n

when you<\/p>\n

have been<\/p>\n

on the road<\/p>\n

so long<\/p>\n

you forget<\/p>\n

the feel<\/p>\n

of pavement<\/p>\n

under your<\/p>\n

boots<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Occupation<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There is a small fleet<\/p>\n

of marmosets in your<\/p>\n

kitchen. The good thing<\/p>\n

about this is they have<\/p>\n

prepared your easter<\/p>\n

dinner and you are<\/p>\n

ready for the inevitable<\/p>\n

guests<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Page of Pentacles (reversed)<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I wish everyone<\/p>\n

in these other cars<\/p>\n

on North Broad<\/p>\n

at four in the morning<\/p>\n

were harmless<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

how many beautiful<\/p>\n

women were out here<\/p>\n

at midnight but are not now<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

they have taken to their beds<\/p>\n

perhaps to the comfortable<\/p>\n

arms of lovers or maybe<\/p>\n

the cool bluster of empty sheets<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

they cannot celebrate<\/p>\n

the beauty of our city<\/p>\n

in the predawn black<\/p>\n

punctured with 24 hour<\/p>\n

gas station lights with me<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pigs, All of You, Pigs<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The rat tribunal passes judgment,<\/p>\n

and it is never anything<\/p>\n

but the stake. We have never<\/p>\n

paused to ask ourselves<\/p>\n

if there is another option.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The skull thrown to the surface<\/p>\n

by the overzealous gravedigger<\/p>\n

is the most pious inhabitant<\/p>\n

of the battlefield; we ask<\/p>\n

for premonition, get naught.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The smoke from the flames<\/p>\n

blacks out the sun, but we<\/p>\n

cannot deny it warms us,<\/p>\n

cooks our food, allows god<\/p>\n

to see us from heaven.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Vet for the Insane<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

smell of dead waterfowl<\/p>\n

and the breezy infidelities<\/p>\n

of decayed foliage<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

always alert<\/p>\n

you sleep in ellipses<\/p>\n

check the platform<\/p>\n

for movement<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

find an abandoned<\/p>\n

subway tunnel<\/p>\n

curl into slumber<\/p>\n

activate the eye<\/p>\n

in your spine<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

then, silent,<\/p>\n

draw your pistol<\/p>\n

and shoot<\/p>\n

shoot<\/p>\n

until they fall<\/p>\n

with open eyes<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

recite your litany<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

enter the names<\/p>\n

of the dead<\/p>\n

in your book<\/p>\n

with a pencil stub<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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