The Hunchbacked Pigeons

1
the furrows of the valleys
diaphanous and cadaverous
converge toward our soft bodies
we are fished up by lightning bolts
we are sold by the pound
we are greatly sought after as delicacies
sought after like tulip-liver
and cricket's milk

2
the deaf with their spyglasses in their ears
smell out appearances better than bloodhounds do
appearances have no name
but they have ten fingers as men do
they sugar the salt in their eyes
the better to eat one another with when the fire's cooked

3
from beneath the shiny scales of our armor
we reveal a marbled body
while the servants
are gray and gross like rats
wax that wants to wax and wane
in good weather and in bad
we unbutton the psalms
and savor sirens' shoes
'tis better to have than to lave

4
the arrows of opaque crossbows
pierce a tiny quavering package
the flying canned goods quaver
around the tiny quavering package
in an illegible landscape
the masters the kilomasters the centimasters and the millimasters
drink portable water
the athletic snails fall asleep
on the palettes of mister van dyck

5
a wave is attached to another wave by fire
and on the bronze branches
the industrial flowers go tch-tch-tch-tch-tch
like chefs who'd like to take french leave
the transparent stalks replete with stars
sing like silken gazes
an inadmissible fear of heights tarnishes the diamonds

6
ramshackle like anything containing man
the fountains leave the orbits of the carcasses
the peccant humors circulate
the chains break
the shadows capsize
the heads gallop
who goes there
the eight or ten continents
on which the music-filled kernels
stroll about between the sole and the hat

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