THE ANCIENTS

Would be pleased
By this quick turn of the
Screw as much as those
Venerables ever seemed
Satisfied, for they knew
That when the vulnerable
Fail the turn may best
Be taken right when
The passage allows,
Because time alone,
As much as anything
Is ever on its own,
Decides that the rental
Must be turned in, or
The vehicle you own
Freed of its plates and
Reduced to parts, and
To hold on to the assemblage.
To venerate the chassis,
Would be to pretend
The end is only a rest
Stop, when it is where
Everything gets unscrewed