Kenneth Patchen




The Dazzling Burden

A great automobile turns slowly in
At the gate.
Two men and a little girl get down
And stand near
The King.
Now the doors of the ancient house open
And a black lion appears. Wings flutter
In the air.
Suddenly the people are crying.
But the King and the black
Lion watch the wings
That flutter just overhead…

And their eyes are not afraid
O their eyes are not afraid at all.