United States, (b. 1937)
Requiem
- Yes, it continues, Anna, tyranny, oppression,
- Repression, recited legalisms, “This is not
- A threat,” illegal trials, truncheons, the knout,
- Worse, of course, much worse, if not here,
- There, if not there, eventually here, you knew
- Behind pig’s flat blank eye, look of stupid
- Noncomprehension, pig’s brain always thinking
- Of slop, the sty, act of betrayal, evil alliance,
- “Executioner’s feet,” slaughter, of the innocent,
- The dear, Mandelstam, of the duped,
- Babel, Mayakovsky’s loud future,
- mass graves, lost masses,
- Licked that satanic arse yourself
- To save son, asked in prison line,
- “Can you describe this?” you answered,
- In devastation, yes, must, will, did, can.
© R.H.W. Dillard. What Is Owed the Dead. Amherst, MA: Factory Hollow Press (2011).
About the Poet:
Richard Henry Wilde Dillard, United States, (b. 1937), is a poet, educator, writer, critic, and translator. He receive his MA (1959) and Ph. D. (1965) from the University of Virginia. While at the University of Virginia he was both a Woodrow Wilson and a DuPont Fellow.
Dillard is considered something of an institution at Virginia’s Hollins University where he has been teaching creative writing, literature, and film studies since 1964. Dillard has been the editor of the Hollins Critic since 1996. He also served as the vice president of the Film Journal from 1973 to 1980. [DES-01/22]