Nominal, Capital

“And teach the soul it wears the face and coat / Which that lucidity obscures.” Michael Donaghy

1. Nominal

Some mutt breed said I certainly don’t
Know where I’m from, you can
Just find out who I am.
So take me at face value, man.

– At face value I cannot take
Any lousy mutt breed;
Might happen that it will
Bite the hand reached out to feed.

– So I shall be a bloody liar
So I shall be your foe.
Take that at face value, man:
I shall be the one you shall know.

– You’re a sheer showboat, a grandstander
I said, your lies are poor;
I know your dad and mom:
You’ve never been mutt-bred for sure.

That dog assured me it knew better
Believing its own poo.
At face value I’ll take it, then –
One sniff at it, and that’ll do.


2. Capital

A crime was far from consummate
Nevertheless the passion’s victim died.
Who’s not a judge must take a side:
Punish, acquit or recommit.

The crime was sanctioned by a sentence
The sentence by its execution
For some romantics cherish the illusion
That execution meets repentance.

I who have no illusions left
Myself selected may agree
About the crime and its degree
Yet of all judgment likewise am bereft

Nor do I know who, then, should foot the bill
Of rights or wrongs. When things are too
Botched up for being false or true
The only truth flows from a quill.

Black warrant past summation writ:
Tip of this murd’rous pen or of that knife
Stabbing one’s love to death from life –
Dashing decision, in a fit.


June 1^st, 2017