Rats of Jerusalem
In our fourth talk
Where was I
before Christ in this town
a tradesman in ants
for a sinning ghost
a bit of dying
in his aching thigh
walking his palace floors
in our fifth talk
this here has no explanation
a servant delivering
arsenic
to his master
out of nights of plague
(the yellow moon snipped snipped with scissors)
trusting in
their
deliverance
Since we'd died in our due time
like chess pawns
we did not shun lime
or rats of Jerusalem
or rats of Jerusalem
such rats
such rats.
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