Cut the Reins
(Romulus over Numa)
Before equality
was a loophole-word
that meant each-to-their-own,
there were possibilities, retaliation,
convictions that gnawed crazed in the gut,
not tended to as complex calculations.
Blood was required for those who walked
bare-footed, in chains. Smiles were overlooked
because every movement forward could be attacked
and the attackers were ruthless,
were the upper-cast-surveyors, pursing their lips
for future indulgences and the grand cutting-down.
Before there was war then there was religion,
rituals to replace the war with locked-in-duty
and unchallengeable hierarchy.
The philosopher king was a king
of masterful manipulation.
With him, peace reigned
as long as the chairs started with
were the chairs stayed with,
each accepting their given seat no matter
its disconnection from dignity or its captivity.
Better the clarity of servitude than
to decorate the death of freedom
with a bribe, false expectation
and regulated civility.
Better the sibling-slayer, bared-tooth ruler
over the priest. Better the glutton
owning his transgressions
over the secret-eater, pretending
compassion with charity, and devotion
with upholding traditions,
basing wisdom on semantics, burying alive
the disobedient sex-alive misfits in a room
with a soft bed, a cup of water and an obedience to shame,
strong enough that they go quietly, underground,
accepted enough that the perpetrators feel justified,
fully at ease, appeased from guilt
by a sanctified brutality.
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Copyright © 2024 by Allison Grayhurst
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Published in “Our Poetry Archive” Poet of the Month, May 2024
https://ourpoetryarchive.blogspot.com/2024/05/allison-grayhurst.html
https://ourpoetryarchive.blogspot.com/2024/05/allison-grayhurst-interview.html
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Published in “Winamop” March 2024
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You can listen to the poem by clicking below:
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