A man on fire
A woman shrunken as a dying cat.
A child beating his arms like a bird.
“Cockadoddledo.”

They emerge like hornets from behind a wall.
Each one inhuman.
Each one more monstrous than the last.

I could say, “Isn’t it just like a pageant?”
But we both know better than that.
Only a fool sees beauty in them.
Only a liar sings their praise.

Can a person really be transparent
Or a woman turn to stone?
When a people are exhausted
Anything is possible.
Watch as one man spontaneously combusts
While another blossoms into allegory.

From: AMERICAN LULLABY