Monday, June 22, 2009

The Fly Talks Back

Provoked by political scandal, Emily takes another look.

I buzzed a lot before I died
And joined the stillness of this room,
Before the presidential pique brought down
The cultured hand of doom.

He fixed me with his gimlet eye -
Calculating, cold, was he -
No Buddha in transcendant trance who
Took no note of me.

He's bound (he claims) by higher things,
Like fixing health care 'ere we die,
By duty at a camel strains but
Must needs swat the fly.

"All victory to the King!" they cry
As one (a monolithic group),
"His stroke was pure, the outcome sure,
No maggots in the soup!"

But every creature finds its niche - I've heard -
And mine is surely here,
Sucking presidential sweat
From off the royal ear.

Power corrupts, we must conclude - for
When it came to me -
My crucial place in God's good plan
He could not see to see.

He who loves diversity lets
All creatures in the door,
But looked down so indifferently
At me on the floor,

Where, before the windows failed,
He saw but one of me -
My many-chambered eyes saw death -
In multiplicity.

11 comments:

Beth Impson said...

Wow -- that is fantastic!

Lydia McGrew said...

But we're not really supposed to feel sorry for the fly, right? I mean, this is satire?

(Just put up with my density. This is why I publish in philosophy despite the English degree. I ask dumb questions like that when I read poetry and artistic fiction and essays.)

William Luse said...

I deleted my comment because, on re-reading, I could see how it might be taken badly, even though I's just horsing around. I was born with a contrary nature. The part about Lydia's genius was accurate though.

As to feeling sorry for the fly, uh, this is permitted as long as one knows where to draw the line.

Lydia McGrew said...

I read your previous comment, and you were right. Thanks. I get it now. I didn't take it badly. It isn't just some sort of false humility. I really am very dense about poetry.

Lydia McGrew said...

What really impresses me is that you deleted your comment and it doesn't have a place-holder (with the name of the person who commented) that says, "This comment deleted by a blog administrator." That's what has happened to me whenever I've deleted comments on my google blog. I'd love to know your secret for making a comment truly disappear.

William Luse said...

I don't just delete comments. I annihilate them.

Thomas D said...

Bravo! Bravissimo!

William Luse said...

And that from an actual poet.

Bob the Ape said...

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!

William Luse said...

And from another.

TS said...

Impressive!