William Butler Dinner Guest
(sonnet of despair)
'the arts lie dreaming of things to come'
wrapped in a blanket dull as a female bird, legs and arms
still as death in the long bones and deep, too far down
to be jumping back with words even if disturbed.About the house we creep
understanding the lunch hour
and the waiting one must do for money.Big Fat Jack who is the Prime Minister
makes a speech after dinner about the undedicated
beauty of the sleeper and his jowls droop politically.A storyteller at the table's end is yawning - 'Lizards' he says
'and golden balls and the unsatisfied curve of a line.
You're meant to tough it out but I've waited too long
to be gentle. They took pills, they're dead to the world.'
