WEBVTT

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As one says of a figure
that everyone knows,

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this poem needs no introduction.

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That would be the
right poem, however.

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"Establishment."

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Death had established
himself in the red room.

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The White House, having
become his natural abode,

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chalk white facade, pillars like
the bones of extinct empires,

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armed men crawling its halls
or looking down with suspicion

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from its roof.

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Its immense luxury,
thick carpets,

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its plush velvet chairs, the
secret stash of McDonald's.

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All of this made death
comfortable, bony as he is.

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A fact you'd hardly notice.

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His camouflage, a veil
of flesh drawn over him.

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His tailor, so adroit.

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And he's so elegant,
so GQ, almost a dandy.

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So suited for the tables
where the crystal silverware,

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the swans of ice gleamed with
the polished purity of light

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on precious things.

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Death was the guest
of honor here.

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Confining, convivial,
among friends,

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who leaned to light his cigar.

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His power seemed their own.

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Body counts at their
command, a power

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beyond even their
boy wet dreams,

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was now a custom
they feared to lose.

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Each saw the world the way
a hooded falcon on the fist

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sees it.

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Blind, waiting for
the next release.

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One word could bury
villages alive,

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could send battalions
to an early grave.

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So death can rest assured,
smiling at such a harvest,

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and so deliciously unseasonable,
like berries in winter.

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Welcome, house guest.

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He stretches his ancient frame,
warm under expensive wool,

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sipping wine, picking his
teeth with the last bone.

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Meat all the sweeter for
being the lambs of honor.

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Corn-fed and unsuspecting,
or the children

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playing in the
rubble, who reach down

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for a souvenir of steel that
has fallen from the sky.

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Really death has seldom
had a better season,

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or such a winning score.

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He must see to their
protection, these little men who

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think to be his master.

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Flatter a fool and
make him useful,

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he thinks, and smiles
benignly, widely, at his hosts,

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assuring them of his gratitude,
his presence at their councils,

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his everlasting support,
until no longer able

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to hide his triumph,
his delight,

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forgetting the flesh
he has clothed himself

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in for the occasion.

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He rubs his hands together
in the ancient gesture

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of satisfaction.

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Naked bone on bone,
how the sound grates,

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how the grateful sparks fly.

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