King of the Witches by Jeff Bagato

King of the Witches

The marksman senses the
time is right.

Bulls charge with lightbeam
horns through a crossroads
game and try barely to miss
each other; with a bullet
I could panic this long line of bulls
into jagged hysteria—
rushing into places they would
never go, black rubber
squeals of terror, iceberg
tips on a razor for a
judas goat

The minister raises his naked
arms to the open sun position,
head of a jackass at his feet
on a metal radiator—
the witches fly tonight
over a crescent moon arched
like a sly, knowing smile—
they carry gunpowder in their
broom straw and mulberry seeds
between their tits

Wherever Boxcar Bertha or
Emma Goldman laid
down her bedroll, a seed
is planted and the tree feeds
whoever can bring themselves to feed;
wherever Hoffman gloried and
Cassidy shed a salt spermy
tear, a seed is laid.
Wherever GG stabbed open his
wounds, and Sunny Leroy sang
the chariots down,
a seed goes down,
and soil goes down

Traffic streaming like tears,
a mexico city fogbank,
left turn at the light,
marksman taking his shot—
breathe out, pull the
trigger—when I read the newspaper
I read what isn’t
written there

Baked a mulberry pie—
they grow wild and confer
knowledge and power like
the forbidden fruit,
like thrift store pants
like slipping books on invisibility
and the devil into inner coat
pocket and leaving the chain store flat

A power is coming down—words
become weaker and reveal holes
you pierce to see yourself
more clearly on a journey
in present time

A power is coming down—you see
yourself walking away from
the greenback phantom of the
future

A power is coming—marksman
                                    takes his shot—
bullet finds its place in the heart
of a bull market
and the citizens
walk away

wrapping bombs in the attic
the elegant disavowed man
makes his peace
with a world that left
him in the soup
line

another marksman takes aim

Jeff Bagato is a multi-media artist living near Washington, DC, Jeff Bagato produces poetry and prose as well as electronic music, and glitch video. Some of his poetry has appeared in Empty Mirror, Futures Trading, Otoliths, H&, Ex-Ex Lit, and Zoomoozophone Review. His published books include Savage Magic (poetry), Cthulhu Limericks (poetry), The Toothpick Fairy (fiction), and Computing Angels (fiction). A blog about his writing and publishing efforts can be found by clicking here…

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