The Soundtrack from Elizabeth

[Don Schaeffer]

A nation
is the largest thing I know.
There is reason
for the big choirs
on the high ramparts
of the ornate churches
and the great uniforms
with the epauleti
and the hats of grandeur.
It's not like the
neighborhoods of simple
people and their petty
cruelty or their bits
of shared cake.
On this little earth
I make scratches
that quickly heal.