Conquest (a reminder of why people like us get so upset when reading Dante) by Shayna Keyles
March, 2009 by Shayna Keyles (Poetry)
New geography – no redefinition
We burn the maps and torch the archives
We live for manifest destiny
Dead politicians in Rome, flung in brothels with chastity belts see
Husbands selling wives with no motivation, less compensation, input rivals output
Lovers living lies, rope out of reach but rather handy for
Inticing games, everyone wins
Conquest like new rooms
Like old dogs and old tricks, teach me.
Old corners or old bedposts, just a new chick, a cracked egg.
Old fashioned American explorers, drawing rivers in the mud
Washed up, beached whales
Eyes cry suds with hot scents, does that make you sweat?
Work it out, clean me up, breathe me in,
Scream, declare: I found it, this flag sticks in your skin
Let my new nation pierce your flesh
Have pride in this country
Land of the free, duty free, cheap cigarettes,
Quick vacations and quicker fucks
Declare: do not touch beyond the glass, sanity displayed in the raw
Please keep all limbs inside the vehicle,
Arms and legs and tongues, you speak
A language we don’t understand
Corrections made in Dixie land, allow this revision, embrace it in its permanence,
Feel the heat from the brand
Watch the glass turn to sand.