There never was an Arcadia*

There were always goats
having their throats cut
just beyond the shady dell.

In the valley
wives were beaten
and Jews burned.

And the revelry of fat, vulgar men
with very few teeth
that never bathed.

There were foxes
ravaging swans
that thrashed the foliage
with bird shit.

In the bright blue sky
the hawk tore the heart
out of the dove,
its bloody wings

floating down to earth
to be devoured by ants
that were then drowned
when the river rises, swollen
from a storm.

Have a nice picnic.

* Arcadia – a real or imaginary place from Ancient Greece of pastoral beauty and peace.