5. The Dawn In Britain

Fax addresses
other fax in fax

"titivates with plumes
of voodoo jargon"

aka "speaks in tongues"
the mellow ameliorants

of mormon d'esprit,
lodge-blue, cop white,

pink snow, halfhard hotdog
bun cigar-angled

the raven's new year
accessory of choice

they get them "from the farm"
whatever that means--

we've seen the rendering truck
stagger under towers years past

bundled like newspapers
now that presumptive hogs

are rarely present--
the old neighborhood herd

thinned to unemployability--
dogs, cats & fish--

hence other people playing cards,
golf, the film on baby foxes

in both official languages
with the sound turned off,

its all to calm you down,
with at Xmas halfraw turkey

thawing by the "fire"
to sink your teeth into

while a song we all know
encourages wordless grunting

suffused with emotion &
the heavy wine of childhood.