Perfunctory epigraph chosen at random from a shelf of books:

"Human nature is as capable of cannibalism as it is of The Critique of Pure Reason; the same convictions and qualities will serve to turn out either one, depending on the circumstances, and very great external differences in the results correspond to very slight internal ones."

—Robert Musil

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(These are excerpts—click on the title to view the whole piece!)
 

Happy Trails

The rocks that they had taped to my back had settled into my skin and had begun to rest in the crevices and upon the bones and along the spine, making walking difficult and not altogether painless. She urged me on and I followed her trail of blood in the dust.
 

A Mute Man, Singing

Waist deep in the water now the masked men
hide themselves from the face of the faceless sea
from the merciless teacher diving in
for intimate surgery.
 

The End of Art

On the flaming steps of the Jeu d'Palme, the Louvre
the National Gallery, and the Met
paintings are stacked hundreds high
melting, as liquid fire falls
from Paris London and New York skies