John Forbes Biography

A certain cast to their features marked
the English going into battle, & then, that

glint in the Frenchman’s eye meant ‘Folks
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Death, you’re more successful than America,
even if we don’t choose to join you, we do.
I’ve just become aware of this conscription
where no one’s marble doesn’t come up;
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The Greeks invented the dust cover only to
paint it / but we think of art as an alibi
& see through it. So now what’s around us
is no longer just what’s beyond the pencil
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The Classical Head

Nature in her wisdom has formed the human head
so it stands at the very top of the body.
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Spent tracer flecks Baghdad’s
bright video game sky

as I curl up with the war
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