Nov. 5th

Nov. 5th

How the guy burnt on that Nov. 5th,
Our eyes were transfixed,
Reliving the torture of centuries past
As we sacrificed the traitor once more
Offering his embers to the pretty stars
Heating our fingertips
As his soul ascended into
Flaky embers.

I saw the kids eyes widen
Celebrating,
Awed by the adult messiness
Which stripped the backbones
On the rack of sky.
We told them of his pain,
They found joy in the horror
And violence which made our
Adult brains wince
Hard real histrionics
Not the cartoon capers
These little ones
Carried. The Tom and Jerry
Hammer blows, the road-runner
Annihilation.

I held you close,
Like a wax doll
Shielding your pale cheek
Slightly rouged
From the wash of heat.
Strange how his terror gaze,
Seated as it was on top of the pyre
Gave us a feeling of harmony
And closeted our love
From the brittle barrenness
Of the treeless sky.