[From Mars cruel god of war]

From Mars cruel god of war

The desire to tie the corpse to the chariot

And drag it around each morning,

From Mercury the idea to put a stop to that

And buy the body back.

Because everything sooner or later becomes a musical

Or a collectible card or figurine

Hitler or the Fierce Saladin

Dracula the Impaler

All stripped of any awareness of suffering:

There is no voice in stones

No word that turns to flesh or blood.

(At that auction held at Bolaffi,

Those intriguing heart-shaped or "C" postmarks

Stamped after their arrival in Florence

On two letters sent from the field to the family

Of a student volunteer at Curtatone.)