The End of Mythology
A sudden glow; the crowd struck dumb recoils.
Another sun more proximate alights
Upon the curled and breathless mass. Frail hands
That cannot fend the fluoroscope are pressed
Upon the eyes, heads bow as if in prayer.
And then the blow that ravishes our myth
Impales the earth and ricochets full force
Upon the throng, a sound of many million wings,
The graveled shriek of vulture flocks upon
The corpse, and rising like a blossom from
The pit, a diadem of smoke and mist.
Transubstantial in its subtlety
The flower flows upon the wind until
The lurid form dissolves while essence lurks.
With time, the consummation of the innocent
Is done, extinguishing all scent of life:
Desire and the mother laid to rest
Amid the tranquil objects of decay.
ca 1955, rev. 1995, 7/9/07
Copyright 1995, 2007 by Maurice Leiter
Posted with permission.
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