Tarocchi
He made a tarot
in elaborate collage,
all the images cut out with a craftknife
from glossy pages -
articles, advertisements,
announcements -
precise as a surgeon
removing quick skin to be grafted.
None of the images were acknowledged
but they niggled at your sight.
Overhead a comet curled its tail
around the world once, twice,
growling and glowering
like a wounded dragon.
The sky bled and trumpets
ranged on the heights
blew war's clarion.
The emperor's horses
arched their throats.
All this was shown on the cards:
the crowds that shuffle through
the streets, flat as paper,
great cats that roam the hinterland
and feast on nomads,
jackals that fight over the remnants,
snarl to snout.
cut the deck
deal me a future
before I slip into my box
forever
grasshopper
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