Take a broad and empty face,
Insert a pair of artful eyes,
High in cunning, short on shame,
Mean mouth, loose lips.
Remove the normal human mind,
Substitute a swollen self,
Oversized but incomplete:
Bluntsubnormal, neatly dressed.
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Form a circle,
Throw the hatchet.
Run for cover
If he catch it.
Hide and seek.
Close your eyes
And say your prayers.
Bare your necks
And start counting.
Thomas Kinsella: Born 1928. Childhood, with street games, in Inchicore. Career in Irish Civil Service and universities in United States. In retirement in Booterstown.
