PHANTASMAGORIA

Men were born naked

(he used to say
when he was rather old)

That they could dress up & become
the clothes that they put on:

A soldier
can put on his uniform
with pride (saying

I am a soldier & must die)
for his whatever Side

A cook
can slip into an All-White look

to make a masterpiece
out of a Mess
(or else: eat for less)

A painter
can put on Th'Rags, half-splattered
with The Rainbows of his struggled brain

& create The Most, Serenest Masterpiece
(like cook's) called Stilled Cheese!

Or, a mayor
can dress up Formal Decrees

& bandy about
(proclaiming The Ultimate End of Doubt!

or The 1rst True Beginning
of Peace!)... or

some stark raving Lunatic
could be
thrown to a padded room

& be sealed up forever, practic'lly,
in Gloom everlasting--

all shriveled & sick
(his clothes taken from him)