(no subject)

[vriad_lee]

tiger that comes in the night
to take away your child
tiger you summoned yourself
heavy, big-pawed, slinking around the tent and the fire
tonight it will take what was yours,
what sadly, techically, is still yours
that which you can no longer afford
your true treasure gone sour and bad
your child turned into a stifling burden
tonight, it will be taken away
then, with some luck, in some while
you will be free enough to beget again

agonizing, you lie in the dark, listening, waiting
your child is still there, but you don't see its face
your child isn't like a circus mule
refusing to leave the deserted town
balking, staring at the ground
its hair, its muzzle wet from the rain
and it's not really a weeping kid
being dragged away from the mother
your child has been wrapped up in sacking
you no longer see its face or hear its voice
though still there, it keeps very quiet
this time, you can't have it
like in movies or books;
in reality, drama is rarely needed
and thus is being reduced
by levels of formal abstraction
like, chatting, eating your meat
you don't see broken legs of the rabbit
or the cow kicked up onto the truck
cursed at, staggering on the wooden deck
that's what makes reality really cruel
but also livable
this night, learn the positive function of violence
if you hugged it and yelled, as you knew you should
you could drive him away again
but you have already seen the outlines of the ruins
this would lead to, so you're keeping mute
breathing hard, staring at the darkness
you wait to lose what you cherished so much
this is what you choose, after all
the tiger is entering any minute, prepare
don't lie to yourself though, this is not death
a metaphor, a rehearsal of death
but not death, not yet