Peeling another layer
of willful ignorance back
you ask why Ford didn’t pardon
the draft dodgers the same time
he issued Nixon an unconditional pardon
for crimes he committed.
I murmur and stutter
something about privileged college students
losing their privileges at Kent State
and Jackson State College.
I say, Ask the Cambodians.
So how do we measure bureaucratic integrity
in this era of might is right? you ask,
as if there was a concrete answer.
With a lie detector test and a syringe, I reply.
We’re back in the Middle Ages,
practicing obedience to the zodiac,
testing the purity of our blood.
|