The Kathak

I. Diogenes
I am Ixion I am Agni
I am Baphomet I am Nox
From arms I flow to the hearts of the young
From skulls I pierce and words I spit
And beards that have grown too long in caves far from
Brights of teeth and
 Lights of streets and
Billboards smiling at the highway
But where is the revolver but behind our heads and I daresay we deserve it
Because we just keep driving and
driving and
driving until
we run off the                  road
and into
Billboards smiling at the highway.
I am

Ixion befitting the punishment met
Yet unduly unruly to fate.
TAKE ME FROM THIS WHEEL
And it’s not my fault none of it is
                                                  my fault if my horses were never stolen
Then this wheel would be clean and I would be
Walking with gods.
TAKE ME FROM THIS WHEEL
Give me my kingdom give me what I earned
My name deserves to be emblazoned in your finest
Clothes streets skies and days
And Orpheus will return and stop this wheel
TAKE ME FROM THIS WHEEL
AND THEN THE GODS WILL LEARN WHAT THUNDER FEELS LIKE
DA
I am Ixion I am

Agni on our way out the door mama gives us the biggest embrace embellished on our chests
Like a beacon of pride in the face of humility
With teeth like bullets and
eyes like bombs
While Buddhist monks join with us in song

MY BURLAP IT WILL KEEP ME WARM
MY SOLES WILL TAKE ME LEAGUES
THIS DIRT MY DIRT WILL FILL MY FIST
I MARCH IN MY FATIGUES
SCREAMING
Roma waits with laurels for me!
HURRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME

My paycheck for a wool sweater.
Applaud but don’t forget our
Humble lives in quiet nooks of amber-colored bottles
   but don’t forget our
Rise to paper then silver then bronze
To stools of empty homes and heads in hands with no hands to hold our tears
From rolling down our ropes
I am Agni I am

Baphomet comforting the smallest of homes
Answering for God in times of strain and these questions
Bear weight of an apple too much
For the bridge that was built in my presence
Between here and Heaven has halved
Into dust
Only dust
Fine sand on the shores of uncertainty
Carrying in carrion from the waves like an appeasement to the land
That expelled the gifts in the first place;
Oh, won’t you please take it back?
I didn’t—I didn’t mean it, I didn’t.
Just take it back take it back and we’ll
Never speak of this again.
I am Baphomet I am

Nox awake at daybreak not old enough to be jaded
To complain to roll my trousers to be faded
In the morning mist rolling over the roofs
Or in the smoke of a gun billowing from my mouth
Like a chimney.
But I’ve waited
       I’ve waited
                     I’ve waited too long
For such a white lighter closing to conclude
My Polish Opening—
There will be mate in ten
And there will be no tears afterwards
Because a game is a game no matter how old
The mind is.
Goodbye goodbye!
I am Nox I am

Dance dance the crawfish dance
France france the frawfish france
Franfran d’frafitch fran
But what about Humanity, pray?