"there came three priests . . ."
in the beginning
the peoplelooked into the sky
and saw the moon
and the stars and the sun
and the cycles of nature
and they fished
in the rivers
and in the sea
and they moved
from place to place
with the migration
of the birds and the fishes
and they gave thanks
to the gods of the heavens
who lived in the sun
and in the moon
and they named their days after them
but then
from the desert
there came three priests
who spoke to the people
there are too many gods
and you the people are becoming
confused
and so the people
destroyed the old gods
who lived in the sun
and the moon
and the rivers
and the sea
and created the gods
of the three hells
and three heavens
three gods
to make them
make war on each other
and the people fell
before the new gods
and became as their sheep
tractable followers
through gaps in their walls
without even a dog behind them
and when the gods saw
that the people
were sheep
they were
all
well pleased
______
mouse masks and other claes oldenburg exhibits at vienna mumok 4.2 - 28.5.12
Oh Gwilym - as usual you have hit the nail on the head but I have to say - this is a not a cheerful poem!
ReplyDeleteOK, Pat - reasons to be cheerful - it now has a cheerful photo
ReplyDelete