The Beast

[Atom Heart]

He hoots as some wild beast
slouched on the couch
at jungle funeral parlour days
THE BEER IS EMPTY
FILL ME UP.
Then he shuffles across the carpet
lays down
on the rose carpets
to snore beside a corpse.
And the nudges he gets
and the kicks he recieves
send him into fury
of glass
and bouquets in fanciful flight.
THE PLACE IS EMPTY
I AM ALONE.
The stools have all buckled
the taps run dry
all eyes have turned to the body of Christ
leaving jungles forever in night.
LOVE ME
he cries.
But the pit has been dug
the line has broken
and the king of the jungle
is a vagrant on the sidewalk.