you must know man to know harassment
as God knew him perhaps
before the fall as he sunk into pure grass
breathing harder until the sun set and rose
over her breasts which he routinely abandoned
as glass you must know him
breakable unremarkable
dare I say talentless yet handsome
as a penis not erect
or powerful yearning for attention
attuned to the moon and her sisters
blessed but unhappy coarse, of yes, coarse
as sand is as the edge of a volcano
you must know man as a smelly foot
as the thief of gravity, a sucker
for guilt and relief a pansy, a draft dodger
a simpleton and a heartless boy
you must know man as a literary trope
a scapegoat a colorless clown
fortuitous yet soulless
broke, childless regrettable as a tree on fire
a poor apostle painting semen pictures
over the woman he glimpses
traversing oh what is it
a cityscape of clouds some neon windmills
you must know him as the errant knight
the closet gangster the prince
the failed ecclesiastic and the eternal interviewer
you must know man better than he knows himself
over a woman’s hips cowering, walking hand in hand
with a pallid angel disrobed or disrobing
caught in the act merciless, drawing
drabs of poison from Satan’s wellspring
in the shadow of a wall built by dynastic hominids
you must know man as rapist and raped
as the executed as the grease-speckled machinist
and go forth with him to the hidden places
follow him, take up the trail behind countless others
only to find the shell-nest sans her fragrance,
the mighty goddess gone as a before-hour
and he left to wander scattered, scattering
another son born to be transfigured
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Harvey Weinstein Poem [Poets Reading the News]
Alejandro Escudé’s first book of poems, My Earthbound Eye, was published in September 2013. He holds a master’s degree in creative writing from UC Davis and teaches English. Originally from Argentina, Alejandro lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.
Image by Angus McDiarmid entitled “Barlinnie boys”.
