To Live in Reception

List! O list!

Corrosive tongues and aimless words

Incise the soul;

Hear, you, who are both the offensive and the vulnerable,

As flesh is torn from flesh, and soul from soul;

As the mind is pecked by birds of prey,

And nests of thought fall broken,

Offspring stolen;

Hark! O, will you?

And behold the changing world;

Try to hold the beast in place and

Break your body thus.