Non-Intervention

inside the rib-white carcass

the wasps made their paper nest

you hit it, full swing

with your angry bamboo 

walking stick, we had 

no business

raising a goat this far out 

in the wilderness, I am sure 

it was a lion

who dragged 

her here

I confess

I didn’t know 

a goat could scream

so human-like, articulate even

but it makes sense when you 

see a half-man half-goat 

carved in ancient bowls 

their voices empty, wistful

hooves planted and silent  

I am sorry 

I heard it all go down

and did nothing, actually

that’s not entirely true

while you slept 

through the tumult

I turned 

the radio louder

to drown out the myth

of man and land 

and fed

your dreams some 

useless chatter