Lord Atom And General Mitchell
He saw it, military prophet.
Waves of weapons traducing 
Cities by air, the last dimensions 
Beginning to be violated,
How spirit of Gengis Khan 
Could be coiled into metal cigars, 
How systems of arms
Subtle, would grow.

We can leave a few ziggurats scattered 
Here and there, time capsules 
Might hold a picture
                                   of mountains bearing 
Blue lakes like captured sheep 
Over their shoulders
Into the evening, and hold lighted city 
Panoramas
    histories of transformation
    to the breeder reactor, 
Of production traced to the hand-held 
Neutron javelin or poly-urethane loincloth.

Celebrate while possible 
The demise of war.
They still sacrifice half the crop
At power’s shrine.
And what Lord Atom rules he takes 
Both mold and form, rules the banal 
Passions crying on for conflict,
The thumb scooping out our eyes.

They are flying now, gliding
Beneath the sea. Ready to do it.
Enough strength to scrape away
The mountain like a scab.
Painful. Red under there.
Billion people say: 
                                   Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh.
Ready to do it all the time.

Lord Atom rules whatever walks the land, 
Rules in palaces as well as dust,
Lord Atom turns the river into sand,
Rules in insect futures if he must.
Lord Atom: Sales Rep.
He’s down the street 
Waiting for you
Dance of a normal day 
Good looking women in
See through sitz-
Baths being wheeled
Down hospital corridors,
Produce piled up at market, 
Sky a color between
Frail and cunning blue
He prides himself on being 
THE REP.
              a man who could sell 
ANYTHING
              a diamond to Kimberly
              a gun to Krupp
              opera love duets
              to an audience of droolers 
He’s picked out you 
Star of profile study 
My greatest sale, he calls you, 
Showing pictures of the blast, 
The searing light,
                                fibers curled
Backward in agonies of 
Devolution
              what happens to the skin
And so forth.

YOU OUTTA YOUR FUCKING MIND?
You say firmly (a good line). 
He only smiles
Buys a round of drinks
Sets his mind on
Medium distance waiting.

You’ll buy, he smiles again. 
There’s a good cause 
Thrown in
              a discount god, culture, 
Freedom for the people of
                                (Erased). . . .
Erased? Where the hell’s that?
He only smiles again.
You’ll buy.