In Praise of Decadence

State of Mind II 40 x 20 cm

IN PRAISE OF DECADENCE

The table dancers are on their way

and the musicians are puffing on 

a spliff behind the gazebo( as the Beatles

once did a few minutes before their performance

at the Royal Albert Hall for the Royal Albert Family

going onstage royally stoned, and I guess

their music was quite easy to play

because if you have ever been royally stoned, well,

sometimes walking, sometimes talking, sometimes merely

existing can be really hard) as if gazebos

were designed for that purpose

which we know isn’t the case but then why not

a Parisian post-modern philosopher of urban legend

might ask: seriousness is just too Teutonic: given

the state of our Zeitgeist, holding out for tragicomic

would be excessive. Feel free therefore

to partake of the foie gras, and from the wine

breathing its last, go ahead, have a sip

before it slips away into this dark perfumed night.

I’m sure you have spotted the girls whose

eyes are violet-hued in this light—

like a squadron of Scottish witches they are—

shall we rescue them?

From boredom, I mean. We don’t fight over females

the way we used to. And that’s too bad. For isn’t life,

like a peach or a girl’s thigh, less sweet without the bruise? 

Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie