jus primae noctis

Whiteness born of a white coat foundling,
The terrified hare cruelly drowned upon the screen,

Thrice unborn of a lackland gloaming,
A song of skullduggery, soon forgot;

Vacant were the eyes that unsheathed the speculum,
Broken were the gods that sighed upon the plain;

A whiteness that bore a hole through all the world,
As merciless armies bled into the night,

Tottering were those undreamt of the fleeting hour –
With Sims presiding, thrice roared the Kraken flames;

Spread-eagled betwixt the Pill and Man,
The crucified mare laid low by the baron,

A naked sparrow left to die on wayward shores –
As the tides receded, a fading angel in the night.

David Penner’s articles on politics and health care have appeared in Dissident Voice, CounterPunch, Global Research, The Saker blog, OffGuardian and KevinMD; while his poetry can be found at Dissident Voice, Mad in America, and redtailedhawk.substack.com. Also a photographer, he is the author of three books of portraiture: Faces of The New Economy, Faces of Manhattan Island, and Manhattan Pairs. He can be reached at 321davidadam@gmail.com. Read other articles by David.