EXCERPT from An EULOGY To Modern Man:

at star time

almost 40 years ago
my grandfather
was walking me down the street

where I wanted him to carry me
but his heart had been kicked-
around by the world, had been
under the foot of life, and he said

Something (I haven't remembered for...)
--I only know I had to walk

A cry from another age
distant as his ancestors!

(almost 40 years ago now, remarkable
that I have lived so long a life! )

at star time

my grandfather coughed up blood
(he had been talking about somebody,
some unknown)

--This is how he described him:

"... his nose snakes each turn of his head
even as his large floppy ears lag behind as if
transgressing across three dimensions at once

... his eyes follow you everywhere as if somehow he'd
never progressed beyond the first two dimensions
of being...                

his features are as flat as a painting
although his limbs are solid enough (sticks,
very sturdy), and...

his voice has th'knack of seeming to
come from some different direction (usually
the least suspected one) and tracking you down
regardless of where you are trying to hide

or getting lost beyond some unknowable place beyond you
if you shift your position even ever the slightest, or
get even the slightest bit out of place
with yourself..."                   

... He ended by imitating
a flushing toilet (his finger
mimicking the whorling waters)
--Remarkable (how much I remember) ...

at star time

almost 40 years ago, remarkable
that I should now remember:

I never listened then
(all I was after was to be carried)

at star time       

          ... almost

40 years ago --My grandfather coughed

(up) blood!...   

He said: "The nation¹⁹⁸is lost,
lost! The nation is lost!" and

wept at having bled all too late--

... I've (just now) heard him.