Hypothetical: Protected Species Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

(for Osip Mandelstam)

if One Real Word, dipped in silver, becoming a bird

suddenly darted out of the scenery from the austere painting

on the wall of The Great Auditorium

of The Great Museum where even now

the rank and file uber-sanctioned poets are eyeing each other

waiting to be the next batter up

would Someone In Charge or a lesser guard

get it quickly out of the way

so that mendacity might continue to hold sway:

so vastly over protected in the Age of Bronze?

mary angela douglas 18 june 2021