Whatever Can Be Done, Will Be Done
The boy who is kind to animals
has tied a firecracker to the cat’s tail
he is stoning the spotted bitch he
is called Wind-Chaser
Yesterday he
gave bread and broken meat
to the street dogs, his friends
His friends are catching lizards behind the wall
they killed a songbird with their catapults
with the boy who is kind to animals
they set fire to a grasshopper, laughing
Along the road
the children are shaking boxes
something wants to get out
The mother spits curses
she says we should pay because they are hungry
Wind-Chaser, Eye-of-the-Heart, Comes-Again,
run away from their baffled eyes
Copyright Credit: Constance Urdang, “Whatever Can Be Done, Will Be Done” from The Picnic in the Cemetery. Copyright © 1975 by Constance Urdang. Used with the permission of George Braziller, Inc.
Source: The Picnic in the Cemetery (George Braziller Inc., 1975)