The Iliad
Newspoem 24 November 2014
(after Phil Klay)
Cope read the Iliad and says she now understands
war is the human condition
always has been always will be
but wait
I've been working on this novel
longer than we've been at war in Afghanistan
((yawn
but I'm sure mine will have a better ending!
We all go to school and graduate and participate in
empire
Is it a good empire or a bad empire?
What is a good empire?
A kitty cat is a killing machine that acts cute and sweet
Life would be better if dad would stop
scaring the neighbors
plus we can't afford to spend so much on firecrackers
Thou shalt not kill
That was in a book
((meow
A book they kill about
The wheels on the tanks go round round round
All through the town
Dad don't spend your tax refund on a gun again this year
If the human condition is war
((yawn
somebody needs to step up
and evolve
How we become post-human
Or the world does
I was happy I got what I wanted
in the color and the size I wanted
but this war came with it
the war was included
and this is Monday
((yawn
and this is Monday
(sinks for little kids)
I really like your shoes
empire
Have you been to the new Middle Eastern place?
empire
That physics professor is really cute
empire
The Thai place is under new management
empire
I've been eating more organic salad
empire
When I retire if I retire
in forty years
I think I'll breathe poison gas
and electrocute my genitals
and deprive myself of sleep
until I tell the story I want told
about my life
This poem is called ride em cowboy