"An Ugly Poem for an Ugly World"

By Cameron Wood of Way Off Bass

An Ugly Poem for an Ugly World
The Circus Ascendant

She died in inconvenience to the law
And with her went the balance of shame and awe
A paltry yield, for shame was just a husk
And awe long since retreated to the dusk
They have no place to breathe in modern mores

Such concepts canker on our lips, ripe sores
To pick and scratch so scabs can form, to pick
Them off, to bleed again, to keep us sick
Sick with fear or spite, but with that need
That constant terrible hunger that makes us feed
On dark, acidic medicines, the drink
Distilled by spleen until it’s as black as ink

We dab it on our eyes and call it clear
And wipe with grand display each black false tear

We dance at hospital beds, tied by strings
To each calliope note that screeching sings
Of clowns with scabrous mouths and death-black eyes
And failing hands that weakly brush at flies

Until a coma spreads to claim us all
In vegetative state, all while the call -
A whisper of shame or a clangorous shout of awe -
Dies upon the deafened ears of law.

-Cameron Wood
02 April, 2005