CULT
SMELLS LIKE DEATH CULT
Think about the streets of Paris July 16 1942
Let us travel back to another reign of terror To
Nazi occupied Vichy France To the infamous
Véldrome d’Hiver roundup
Thousands of families were amputated Parents put
on trains Children as young as 6 months left to fend
for selves Only later to be herded onto eastbound cattle
cars One family had barely enough time to hide small
son behind a trap door
His bones found by prodigal sister after the War She
survived Auschwitz Parents ashes scattered here+there
A strange smell emanated well into 1943 The pillaging family
did not know what to do when no amount of fumigating could
expunge the scent of small jew
Paris has seen rivers of blood it is true Heads on pikes 1792
Barack called the recent slaughter: acts against humanity Have
they not all been? The lights of Paris dimmed A tapestry of liberté
A tapestry of blood rimmed tides
But should we braid together past+present +dig deeply into micro-
history we can see that YES we are all Charlie + Hymie +Zainab
__
Jade water – the Aztecs called human blood They fed it – hundreds of
living sacrifices a day – to the sun This the only nourishment the sun
god would take (Annie Dillard For The Time Being)
Fall 2015 O Bartleby O Humanity Herman Melville Bartleby The Scrivener