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Bad Behaviour

She smiles
and considers the crowd,
all backward somersaulting
detached vagabonds, all,
serious soft smalls revealed -
marshmallows imbued
with the glee of writing 
irregular poetry;
works of art thou art,  
thou art, thou art, all indeed -
and what did Dickinson say,
“the Maples never knew
that you were coming -
I declare, how red 
their faces grew” -
well, we all march on, 
and by the side of our roads,
the righteous town criers 
of prognostication, stand
their grounds for commentary, 
like sensate servile monks 
full of the base sound facts, 
ringing their shellac bells, 
like an exercise in pulling weights;
the waits inside their cries foretell,
of the things we do not know,
will never know,
like the bride we all are,
gullible, innocent of what is to come,
but we dance our dance 
flirting with luscious life
beckoning come hither,
we still write our own vows,
and throw our skirts asunder,
spinning bottles, all undressed
half addressed half said, 
punctilious lost in 
wayward pentameter,
such bad whirling dervish
behaviour,

truth and dare 
and Father Time
will kiss and tell

we poetically march on 
we all march on 
 
we think we know
which side we're on



Candide Diderot. ‘24 




“All those Hills you left for me to Hue,
There was no Purple suitable -
You took it all with you.

Who knocks? That April.
Lock the Door -
I will not be pursued”




Emily Dickinson. March. 

Copyright © Candide Diderot

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