POEM
23
The miller is charged to utter a prayer
when wheat and barley flour are ground
bulls and rams both milk and barley fed are sacrificed
the thighs being the prime cut
for this or that god the King eats
a scrap from the golden plate
then the tail goes to the metallurgist
the breast to the goldsmith
and the ribs to the weaver
the priest shall mix wine and good oil
he shall smear it on the door sockets of the gate to the sanctuary
the door shall not be shut
the first watch of the night shall prepare the golden tray
one starts the day thinking of marriage
and ends the day thinking of war
each chariot has a driver and a soldier
a battle-ax and a quiver of spears
after the running and shouting
if there is nothing
is there peace and quiet
the days are long in the desert
not much happens quickly
the most beautiful and well-built young men
have bowls put before them
of honeyed cream and black figs of a violet
less dark green than eggplant skin
and more black than blue and sweeter
than milk for the sacrifice
and after such wonder
that there is a world at all
the scribe has to send the police
TO DRAG RECRUITS FROM THEIR FAMILIES
Jane Miller, “23” from A Palace of Pearls. Copyright © 2005 by Jane Miller. Reprinted with the permission of Copper Canyon Press, P.O. Box 271, Port Townshend, WA 98368-0271, coppercanyonpress.org.
Source: A Palace of Pearls (Copper Canyon Press, 2005)
Poet Jane Miller was born in New York. Influenced by Frederico Garcia Lorca, Virginia Woolf, . . . MORE »
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