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.
