Knock Out Roses for China
Knock out roses
And the Lord said
Lift these roses
now you know how much
a child weighs
place these roots
And the Lord said
Take these roots
and take Jacob
You will feed Jacob
And the Lord said
forgive your debts
this is a sign
for the united states
mail these roots
to china
won’t take roots
but for China
won’t take roses
And the Lord said
forgive your debts
but for china
receive your alimony
For the Lord said
I will not accept grace
As a second hand
For you, scared poet,
offered your right arm
but said,
“let me keep my left arm
that I may wear a ring
once again
in my volatile life
before the Lord
As for me, scared poet,
I will not accept roots
and I will not receive alimony
for I am as old as days
before the Lord
But for the market
let them be hands
of limited marked persuasion
that digs the wells
of the lost journey
and receives the rite
of the swallowed hand
for fiction
is an emblem
of my lie
and my journey
that I may
know in december
what life holds
and does not say
For China
does accept roots
And the United States
does accept roses
But it will not be
before the Lord