Mermaid/Yin/Yang

Rooftops

Tear the Toxin Out

They tried to tear his toxin out
With bone chisel and with scalpel
They called it a lobotomy
Their aim, they claim
Was to banish those malevolent
Voices from his brain
But the truth is that some remained

And undeniably desensitised
He lives here still
He is the neighbourhood freak
Contemplating the radiance
Of newly ripened corn
Hunched over in his sheepskin coat
Drinking wine on the village green

Where children hurl stones at him
And the old goat turns
Spills over into rage;
Into illuminated fury; they scatter.
He pursues them, mayhem-disgorged
They outrun him, leaving him
Dazed, bewildered, quivering