HAIKU
Frank Thomas
Smith
The
lamp falls to the floor.
Darkness
covers
the
lovers' naked bodies.
Standing
in a mountain cemetery
the
old horse looks up,
startled.
Fish
in clear shallow water
gliding
over
brightly
colored pebbles.
Excretion
covers the tailgate
of
a truck
bringing
lambs to slaughter.
The
road is a line
drawn
with charcoal
over
the pool-table Pampa.
The
cage door opens.
Two
birds fly out together
into
the blue sky.
Ragtime
playing slowly
tumbles
into the room.
The
countdown begins.
Eyes
are averted
from
a dead horse
decomposing
at the roadside.
In
nomine Patris et filii
et
Spiritus Sancti,
Amen.
