Stefan George 1910 | Photo by Jakob Hilsdorf
IF THERE IS MADNESS
If there is madness
in the history of laughter
no one but a poet
suspects who its after
take Stefan George,
by chance
or Artaud
turned to decadence
in their plays on words,
as for society
its most general rules
are for the upper classes,
Heine realized
they are here as fools,
the working world,
no one has yet smiled
with no law for poets
then why are we exiled
breathlessly reviled
or wantonly buried
kept out of the Republic
loved only platonically
and translated
only after death.