Hypothetical< Protected Species

(for Osip Mandelstam)

if  One Real Word, dipped in silver, becoming a bird

suddenly darted out of the scenery from the austere painting on the 

wall of The Great Auditorium

of   The Great Museum where even now

the rank and file uber-sanctioned poets are eyeing each other

waiting to be the next batter up

would Someone In Charge or a lesser guard

get it quickly out of the way

so that mendacity might continue to hold sway:

so vastly over protected in the Age of Bronze?

mary angela douglas 18 june 2021