Aaron Kunin

II.

The age demanded you-know-what
And what-have-you, a kind of
Weeping in laughter, and laughter
In weeping, not, anyhow,

The dance of the mind about the word,
Not (oh, brother)
Talking rats, the "moron,"--
No. That is not what we require.

At last the "age demanded" the laughter
Of a machine, applause,
A machine hard-on, not (my god!) a sigh,
A gasp left in the throat.