Scott MacLeod


ENJOY LIFE

a solitary beauty saves, I think

all down-trodden hacks chance, tilt oblivious,
sibling against sibling

lead wallets sink our warships 
shift the dust mites far away 
as far away as her mouth 

sucking some other mouth 
on her knees but not singing 
not song upon her lips

time barking like a stray dog 
hiding in the roses — waiting 

life hangs in this balance 

in this moment

grace gives us nothing 
but reckless treasure

we call it air, shredded 
what’s in shreds — waiting 
as if it’s all our fault

long life is gory, faultlined 
it lies down, undone 
unknown, condemned

subjected to songs 
with dumb lyrics 

stupid karaoke


[This is Ezra Pound’s 1919 “Envoi” from “Hugh Selwyn Mauberley [Part I]” written backwards and altered. 2023.]
 


MORNING SORROW

sorry, Rose, the man on the ladder 
drank cider, alone, lost his senses 
slipped the ladder, he went down 
like a bridegroom, stunned 
his beard is gone, shaved 
to please his bride, bright-
eyed but now gone too 
turned away from love 
what binds us, bound her 
but slipped the ladder, rung 
the bell to call the wedding 
guests to hear the ghastly 
ghostly tale, the woful agony 
that forced her to be free 
and turn perforce away 
to clear the arbor, flee 
the kirk, the breeze 
that blew, the dew 
that settles 
dries like 
paint


[This is a very lazy backwards rewriting of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” 2023.]
 


YO, RICK!

that laugh always makes her come, as must 
her favorite thick inch in her lady chamber 
now her chap grins and falls on the table 
roaring, flashing her, singing, gambling 
kissing her lips, her gorge, its rims 
absorbed in her imagination, he’s hung 
has her on her back a thousand times 
a fancy infinitely funny jester and his lass


[This is a quick backwards rewriting of the “Alas, poor Yorick…” monologue from William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” 2023.]


Scott MacLeod: Confederate Monuments
Scott MacLeod: Asemic Quintrains
 
 

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