Geoffrey Winch
Prelude to the inquest
Leaving the destructed city
by the slow train of everlasting winter,
crossing its stagnant mudflat river you slip
into a hopeless dimension, close your eyes
so not to see the streets all deserted,
silent buildings, mounds of heavy ash,
soft as sugar, sinking ever lower.
Your performance was food
for thought until the crowds saw through you
and fled. Time should have defeated strife,
instead it suffered under the sheer weight
of too many of your moralistic agencies.
You sit opposite a crusader
who, with unbelieving eyes,
waves farewell to borrowed youth.
He is rare company. Sooner or later,
before you reach your destination,
he will confront you with political questioning.
He will engage you with popular controversies
but will never be content with your arguments:
his solutions will carry more weight than yours.
He will return to rebuild the city, he knows
exactly how and why you failed.
by the slow train of everlasting winter,
crossing its stagnant mudflat river you slip
into a hopeless dimension, close your eyes
so not to see the streets all deserted,
silent buildings, mounds of heavy ash,
soft as sugar, sinking ever lower.
Your performance was food
for thought until the crowds saw through you
and fled. Time should have defeated strife,
instead it suffered under the sheer weight
of too many of your moralistic agencies.
You sit opposite a crusader
who, with unbelieving eyes,
waves farewell to borrowed youth.
He is rare company. Sooner or later,
before you reach your destination,
he will confront you with political questioning.
He will engage you with popular controversies
but will never be content with your arguments:
his solutions will carry more weight than yours.
He will return to rebuild the city, he knows
exactly how and why you failed.
Page(s) 87-88
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