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Nimble bodies intertwined in courtship

Serpents await at the gates

With open jaws and mangled fangs

I can see the glowing, yellow eyes in the dark

A shrill hissing, deep in my minds eye

Should persuade me of retreat

But I must go the crooked mile to cut my teeth

To find myself at the river mouth

This impenetrable heart of darkness

A savage, hollow, empty dream

Where babies are drowned before their mothers,

Restrained by umbilical nooses

The father’s seed is dying fast

Every mortal being, alone in the wild

With aching arms and swollen hearts

Fighting a losing battle

Who will be the better man?

A muscular primitive beast

An abstract distortion of virtue

A complete abortion of value