Parade

by Slim Volumes

the farmers' heads
are silent
now
having had their say
and been tried
tried at the Ancaster Assizes
tried and convicted
of treason
found guilty and hung
hung and cut down
before dead
cut down and gutted
entrails burnt
before their eyes
hung
drawn and quartered
their severed heads
piked in a row
on Burlington Heights
the entry
to three civilized communities
a mute parade
of thick tongued gargoyles
to tell
all who pass
that here live
the king's
loyal subjects

-----------------------------------------