FORETHOUGHT AGONY BELL
forethought agony
bell that ringing
is not an illness
but reduces anyway
tell on, teller forthwith
a grandfatherly preacher
faded into the normal
blackguard of the town
no one saw him slide
to the stairway or begin
to disallow any visual
representation of his
speeches, crowds of this
size play basketball
out of boredom when
they want to in
church a receptive
leader would have
spoke to them again
the preacher just lived
up higher in a bedroom
& door flapping hands
at the windows when
menfolk went too low,
he set a tonal
standard by which trust
crowded the disease
they knew was coming
trapped stature
so ho-hum