Together they gather,

   a loyalty of frauds;

Huddled like sheep

     in the hard winter rains.

They blither and blather,

   these ill-conceived gods—

Harshened by

   the grim loss

     of their gruesome gains.

A blithe scrum of liars

   for whom deception is sport,

Cajoling each other

     their ribald misdeeds.

They dance in the briars.

In the brambles they cavort—

   and fall fast asleep

     in the weeds.

Fall 2006