What We Have Known

The tadpole buoyant as basalt

The seahorse horsing in assault

The owlet in his greenery

The narwhal in his cup of sea

They all believe

They all believe

But collusion bleeds through back alleys

From parapets that end on feet

When one is weak they discretely meet

They throw the bones into the street

And they progress

And we retreat

And all the books our fathers wrote

Are in the middle of the road

Little by little, we implode

History brittle, brown and broke

We can't remember what was spoke

So we stare in wonder at the smoke

What it begets is born alone

We know not now what we have known

Ladies, breathe deep against your whalebones

For your children come home made of stone

The terror seething sees a way

Or like the wheezing of the bay

In miniature agonies

They travel westward on the breeze

Bring us all to our knees

The dappled horse, the sorrel mare

With eyes that do not see but stare

Beneath boots as black as malachite

He drives the nag into the night

Into the night

And all the baby boys we've born

With eyes averted from the storm

Sent off to die in perfect form

We know now what we have known

Satellite photos rhetoric

See how the euphemisms stick

And when they come back broke and burned

Those who return have no return