if you want to know how much
your leaders love you
you need only hug their statues
draw their bronzed bodies
to your breasts
though they may have few breasts
to offer in return
still suckle upon them
feel how strong they are
know their unique qualities
some hollow as the sounding drum
others cold, stone or marble firm
curl, infantilised again, in their laps
wrap your fingers in theirs
if you have no place to die
die upon them
like a passing bird depositing its load
perhaps, before some anointed civic soul
comes to scrub you away, putrefying
you will have time to burn an acid stain
to show your leader just how much loved them too
eleanor j jackson 