Alexandre Amprimoz 
CULTURE OF REVENGE I  
Culture meant
to wolf down
your rival’s heart;
to crucify a lion
or a Christian
just to kill
the boredom
Of the road to
Byzantium
or Jerusalem;
to squeeze testicles
under Teutonic boots;
to disembowel souls
with Dominican skills;
to calmly proceed
to the impalement
of the spirit
with a lance stolen
from a tortured Templar.
And all that time
we were never short
of bards or troubadours
to sing, with most delicate notes,
the glory of splendid knights
who drank out of the enemy’s skulls,
sweet nectar of victory.


 

Alexandre Amprimoz 
CULTURE OF REVENGE II
Like bats my true forefathers
flew and fell against the darkness
of that metaphorical cave.
But the world has changed:
now when candid towers
fall, it takes at least
a poet laureate to tell us
that we deserved it.
But you who now circulate,
among the shadows
of a deeper cave;
You whom I see
In waking dreams
And you who crumble to ashes
With each and every
tentative touch;
Tell me, what revenge
Will bring you back?
You were my Latvian
Tale of Magic, a siren
Born in the vision
Of Maija Tabaka ‘s Self-Portrait.

Alexandre Amprimoz is a poet, critic, translator, writer and programmer. He teaches Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures at Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario Canada. Books include: A Season For Birds: Selected poems by Pierre Morency. Translation. Toronto: Exile Press, 1990; Venice At Her Mirror: Essay by Robert Marteau. Translation. Toronto: Exile Press, 1990 ; Nostalgies de l'ange. Ottawa: Editions du Vermillon, 1993. He has recently published poems in: Antigonish Review, Octavo, DMQ, Poet's Canvas Dégaine ta rime, Resurrétion, Hélices and Litté Réalité

 

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