a sword now comes to disturb the peace
as school desk bolted to the ground
shake loose where rhinestones on tiaras
fall a kind of disgrace while drag
queens preen down hometown parades
in sequined spandex shorts on asphalt
runways running through the heart
of the Bible Belt where bill clubs
swing between our legs as we rise
to that chorus of is our voices nothing
without the flesh without the clay
feet of Nebuchadnezzar’s dress burning
rood blazing into view where viral
crusades ram steel rods into our doors
*
Poem by Timothy Liu, published in Ribot, The Annual Report of the College of Neglected Science (CONS), 1999, Los Angeles.
The name of the cat is Wally !