Collected Poems

of evil.

Public Execution in Pictures

The caption did not overlook

the smart attire of the squad. Certainly

there was impressive swagger in that

ready, high-elbowed stance; belted

and sashed in threaded dragon teeth

they waited in self-imposed restraint—

fine ornament on power unassailable—

for their cue

at the crucial time

this pretty close-up lady in fine lace

proved unequal to it, her first no doubt,

and quickly turned away But not

this other—her face, rigid

in pain, firmly held between her palms;

though not perfect yet, it seems

clear she has put the worst

behind her today

in my home

far from the crowded live-show

on the hot, bleached sands of Victoria

Beach my little kids will crowd

round our Sunday paper and debate

hotly why the heads of dead

robbers always slump forward

or sideways.

Gods, Men, and Others

Penalty of Godhead

The old man's bed