NE4

i. On The Cutting Block

just as a couple indoors
could be having intercourse
engaged in love making
no body passing or nearby aware

one could be killing the other
without anybody being aware

without anybody near
hearing one cry out
as the knife goes in and out

just as a cock in intercourse
goes in and out

how different the saps
the substances produced
when murder is compared
with making love
when these are contrasted

murder is so drastic, so final

a long sleep follows
and lament and comments
without end

ii. On The Cutting Edge

have I come into modernity
am I in modernity or way off
or elsewhere or who the hell knows where

gadgetry I am so out of touch with
nicknacks I don't know exist

wish I were able
to make more use of my computer

wish I knew all the shortcuts
how to make it run
when it instead chooses to shut down

like a horse I was unable to control,
make go where I wanted it to
as fast as I wanted it to

am I modern or antiquated

what of the world we're in
what of the people in it

adhesive tape to put a head back on
put sculpture together again

what of John The Baptist
what of John John The Barber
with his barber razor


© Obediah Michael Smith, 2008
9:05 p.m. 08.07.08