London Poetry Review

Jul 2008

Very good that this torment should be
housed behind glass,
that the screams should be
sterilized in the antiseptic past.

And better that those who turned the screw
tighter and deeper
are the ones who were destined to lose
most by the deed.

But best of all that some men could stay
silent, not faltering,
and cheat dogma by laying their pain
on a most holy altar.