The Seer

He reaches in his top hat
pulls out
frayed scarves
dead rabbits
a wingless dove
strings of beads
that melt drip
and spatter on the stage
like tears

The audience is smiling
looking past him at a silver screen
where rabbits romp in the grass
birds flutter in the trees
fair maidens wear strings of pearls

A lullaby is wafting in

With his magic wand
he raps twice for attention
He reaches in again
pulls out
torn scarves
dead birds
a string of beads
that melt drip
and spatter like blood
on the stage

After a heavy meal
the audience is nodding

Frantic
he raps again
pulls out
torn wings
skinned rabbits
doves strangled with strings of beads
scarves dripping blood...

The room is warm
the seats plush and deep
The audience is asleep

The Testimony

Understand
A soldier must obey orders

We heard the end coming
An army must leave a clean camp
Pockets of unclean have to be dealt with

We loaded all of them in one truck
They were small
We spared them the long wait
in the camps
We took care of them right here

We pulled them out one by one
from their drugged pile
naked in a corner
We carried them in our arms
like we do our own children
before their bath

We took them into the next room
so the others would not see
We helped them slip their head in
and pulled
Their bodies were too light
to trigger the noose
The Outcome
... The criminal proceedings were stopped...

There was no conclusive evidence
that the children
had been made to suffer unduly
Only their lives had been taken
1985

Marcelle Kasprowicz was born in Niort, France in l942. She received an M.A. in Foreign Language Education from UT at Austin in l983. She is an Austin resident, retired after teaching twenty-five years in the public schools. he has been writing poetry for ten years. She writes in English and French, both. Her poems have been published in the Austin International Poetry Festival Anthology Di-verse-city 1997, l998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004. She was awarded the first prize in 2001 for House of Bones in the AIPF Anthology.

Email: Marcelle Kasprowicz

Return to Table of Contents