Mina Loy

Apology of Genius


Ostracized as we are with God
The watchers of the civilized wastes
reverse their signals on our track
 
Lepers of the moon
all magically diseased
we come among you
innocent
of our luminous sores
 
unknowing
how perturbing lights
our spirit
on the passion of Man
until you turn on us your smooth fools' faces
like buttocks bared in aboriginal mockeries
 
We are the sacerdotal clowns
who feed upon the wind and stars
and pulverous pastures of poverty
 
Our wills are formed
by curious disciplines
beyond your laws
 
You may give birth to us
or marry us
the chances of your flesh
are not our destiny ---
 
The cuirass of the soul
still shines ---
And we are unaware
if you confuse
such brief
corrosion with possession
 
In the raw caverns of the Increate
we forge the dusk of Chaos
to that imperious jewellery of the Universe
--- the Beautiful ---
 
While to your eyes
A delicate crop
of criminal mystic immortelles
stands to the censor's scythe.

From: Mina Loy's Lunar Odyssey