uncivilized

News of another lover
of unspecified gender
(a generational glitch
in the ecclectic dreams
of ageless cappuccino debutantes
and aromatic swashbucklers)
and barely hidden terms
of fatuous agreements,
under the guise
of open-mindedness,
are dealt out over a table
in a double-handed trist,
while nutmeg and cinnamon,
nestle together
in frothy delight,
concealing incantations
wafted into the fetid air
of diametric oppositions,
and social commentary
acquires a neon glow,
reflected in panes
of hard-boiled silicon,
marking the outer limit
against the primitive fringe:

out here,

where hands
beat drums
to frighten Pharoah;

where tongues
chant prayers
to raise the dead;

where feet
move dust
upon the earth.



cranbrook 2001 © garnet robbie