September 1974

Kafka Dozen

Part Three

NINE
My Education

TEN
Curruptor of Youth

ELEVEN
Whether or No

TWELVE
You

NINE

My Education

My education has done me great harm:
A little dweller in the ruins,                   
burnt by the sun
Which would have shone for me          
there on the tepid ivy
This reproach twists                             
through society like a dagger.

  

 

 

Forgotten energy may hold
     these persons fast in memory
I make of my reproach
     and laughter a drumbeat
Sending into the world beyond. 

TEN

Corruptor of Youth

Yes, a good racing chariot           
is the first to be pursued
And overtaken by dust and wind
And its wheels fly over obstacles
So that one might almost            
believe in love.                
            

ELEVEN

Whether or No

Whether I lie in the gutter
And stow away the rain water
Or drink champagne
     with the same lips
Up there under the
     chandelier makes
No difference to me.

    

TWELVE

YOU

'You', I said,                                    
    and gave him a little              
shove with my knee.
But who'll take you under the arm,
strengthen you with wine    
in a near-by tavern?

And then lead you
     to his room which,
       miserable as it is,
Still has a few
     panes of glass
       between itself and the night.