Paul Lake: Two Poems
Martyr of Modernity
Christ had his cross. Antoine Lavoisier,
Discoverer of matter’s conservation,
When sentenced by the frenzied Paris mob
For crimes against the state, used the occasion
To make a last experiment. To see
How long a brain could live deprived of blood,
He asked a friend to mount the guillotine
And lift his severed head and count his blinks
Before all thought devolved to chemistry,
Then bravely gazed until the last: thirteen.
Epilogue to “The Emperor’s New Clothes”
Returning from his proud procession,
The king was pleased by the parade:
His ministers left the impression
That emperors must be obeyed.
Despite some murmurings, the crowd
Ignored the witness of their senses.
Whatever small boys cry aloud,
The truth is woven from consensus.
Those weavers were a subtle pair
Who put folk in a double-bind
By claiming if their looms looked bare,
The viewer had a simple mind
Or was unfit for public trust,
And pantomimed cloth into being
So well their dupes learned to…
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