Collected Poems 22



Gestapo

Lovers, there is so much
You can do
By just holding one another
Tenderly on this evening--
Like rounded basins
Holding water in fountains
Before the soft curling fall
From one basin to the other.

They are bounding
Up the stairs now,
Clamoring they enter.
Stand
glaring at them.
A nod toward the door.
Grab them, herd them down
To the street,
Hurl them against the wall.
Two shots
fired.
Jew, left printed on the wall
Where they fell.