Herr Fable

disbelief in power is power's best
friend, a friend once told

me, on the eve
of the Ides of July,

and then

knowing when to let go
is of particular importance, when
he said this he was sage-like,

particularly earnest

don't beat a dead cocktail napkin
and don't kick me when I'm gone,
now laughing, mouth gaping,
face facing upwards

you can't push inside what
has flown out, Pandora's
deterrent, now wry like
a mother,
he whistled a most
irksome tune

a day without worship
makes workers feel
nervous, terse-faced
and wild-eyed, he sat
...........down,

floored

treat disappointment
like a notch on the
bedpost, now his voice
had grown colder and
he went

horizontal

all of your chickens
are speaking in
Russian, is all that

I gathered as
he puttered out,
..........drunk.