The Once Red Scholar, Or, June Third Poem by Birgit Bunzel Linder

When the bell tolls twelve,
the scholar carefully ties
his Caponi leather shoes
and rises to return
to his cherry wood writing desk.

Once in black cotton canvas,
he was sent into Northern woods
to be the guardian on the roof,
who at each setting sun fiddled
tunes of blood red ideologies.

Now at the eve of the Incident,
year after year, even decades now,
his wife polishes his black
marching boots until they squeak
to the tunes of left-over theories.

Now in a black chauffeured Cadillac,
he is sent to Northern suburbs
by the guardians on the roof,
who at each Eve of Incident recycle
tunes of blood red ideologies.

Pixie dust and fairy songs,
heretic sermons, Žižek thoughts,
and well-researched papers
sum up the Events in the life
of a once red scholar who,
when the bell tolls twelve,
rises to return
to his cherry wood writing desk.