1863 Bodies

Tom Thumb and his bride

(two feet, eight inches tall) stand

on the polished top of a grand

piano to greet their guests.

In Richmond, men riot

over bread.

Gettysburg's streets are black

with bundled bodies, prowling dogs.

In New York City, mobs attack |

the Colored Orphan Asylum,

and, finding the orphans gone, kill

whomsoever they can.

In England, thirty thousand

die of scarlet fever.

In Ireland, once again,

potatoes rot.

And in Paris, a painting

of a naked woman, picnicking

with two clothed men,

can somehow shock.