Edward Dorn Poems

A B H O R E N C E S
November 10, 1984

Death by over-seasoning: Herbicide
Death by annoyance: Pesticide
...

And we are all there together
time will wave as willows do
and adios will be truly, yes,
...

A B H O R R E N C E S
4 July, 1986

America is inconceivable without drugs
and always has been. One of the first acts
was to dump the tea. The drug that furnished
...

The Candidate, answering a question
about El Salvador, generalized
by saying he thought
we should support human rights
...

A B H O R E N C E S
November 13, 1984
The show did not start off
auspiciously, the contestants
were nervous and kept fiddling
with the wires attached
to their privates, the men
being especially anxious
over the question of balls.
The women were more querulous.

The first question, a medical subject,
was why had the anti-abortionists
not mentioned, let alone commented on,
the Baboon Heart transplant?
One terrified contestant guessed
it was because the moral majority's
nervous concern with evolution
precluded their bringing it up.
That hopeful contestant's face
reflected the malicious light
in the eyes of the host who
immediately threw the switch

A powerful surge shot through
the wires and both sexes screamed
and writhed, to the delight of
the vast viewership, estimated
at 100 million, all of whom,
presumably, were delighted
not to be on the show,
because not one in a million
knew the answer.
...