All poetry aside: "The poet has come back..." - Margaret Atwood
The poet has come back to being a poet
after decades of being virtuous instead.
Can’t you be both?
No. Not in public.
You could, once,
back when God was still thundering vengeance
and liked the scent of blood,
and hadn’t got around to slippery forgiveness.
Then you could scatter incense and praise,
and wear your snake necklace,
and hymn the crushed skulls of your enemies
to a pious chorus.
No deferential smiling, no baking of cookies,
no I’m a nice person really.
Welcome back, my dear.
Time to resume our vigil,
time to unlock the cellar door,
time to remind ourselves
that the god of poets has two hands:
the dextrous, the sinister.
