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hocus pocus
crow and crocus
snow to snow
all coal is lost
and out of focus
all roads lead
to rome
where beautiful
palms grow
and death has a house
in the tiber
lead restlessly
without rest
all the way
to the capitol.
capitol
you white white
housewife
milky star
and blackberry's
foe
please call off
the crow and crowess
let us borrow
your bare arm:
crow and crowess
may be people
their heart too
may be like ours
but antique
circus rings have
been created
just for geese
and wolves and foxes
hocus pocus
all roads in
the end will end
yours too, my
crow and crowess
but they need not
end in rome . . .
snow to snow
to coal to coal . . .

Copyright © 2009 Hans Carl Artmann (translated by Rosmarie Waldrop) All rights reserved
from Colorado Review
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission