The Strongest Magic

Anger pens me in a sty,
shapes me bestial with snout
and tail, bathes me in filth
when I wallow in stale pride,
flies torment me, dungsmell
fills my nose, I sleep in sour
straw, eat from a trough, squeal
when the prod strikes. Light
glazes my red eyes, a cold wind
brings me bad dreams, I grunt
hairy thoughts crazed by blood
surges, until you laugh the beast
into its shadow when your kiss
turns me to a man again.

    Original Citation
    Trace (1968) 254.
    Word Count
    81
    Original Publication
    Date Published
    1968
    Complete Poems
    203
    Theme(s)
    First Line
    Anger pens me in a sty
    Poetic Form
    open
    Observations
    Anger as transformation into a beast
    Twitter Quote
    I sleep in sour / straw, eat from a trough, squeal / when the prod strikes.