Among the Giants of Hell

             for Tony Tost

I was executed yesterday as I was
walking among the giants of hell
I alone am the greatest colossus
in meditating on hell, for example
I like skiing by telephone

I was but now dying in the grasp
of this pro-American, pro-Israeli dictator
why is it funny? I don't know
he hammered me and quite rightly
I was driving him back to his hotel and I thought,
he's literally a gunslinger and can't resist
getting behind the giants of hell

all of us have seen history
essays written by faceless cardinals
among the giants of hell which
may weigh up to 1000 pounds

have you noticed a line
on your credit card statement that
science will save air travel and wake up
the ancestry of distant worlds
for the most part the war
scared the guy finding a way to be heard
once he puts up some clouds
in the English department

a huge snarling bulldog hurtles
toward you

tighten the shit out of the snare
and pound it but please
do not expect to be included
among the giants of hell

the high rank Parmenides
has is shown by these
quivering little firms
the abundant aftermath

and yet Washington was alone
among the giants of hell
and I have read a hell of a lot
I can't help but think
but I have orders from the Big Man
you get the idea