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father and child
These are the case-hardened fi ngers
With which I bring to your pink
And drooling mouth your food
From farther away than you think,
But sleep,
Sleep in the natural dark.
With this electronic sound
I shall teach you what to do,
My son, as I now sing
Lullaby for love of you.
Now sleep,
Sleep in the natural dark.
Fetched from the polymerized
Thermoplastic womb,
Now blue-eyed and golden-haired
And shapely and fi rm of limb!
Sleep, sleep,
Sleep in the natural dark!
Under this coat spun of cooled
Chemicals is the shoulder of chrome
That will edge you after a while
Out of your gleaming home.
(Now sleep,
Sleep in the natural dark.)
Whereupon you will ascend
Chock full of your own desires
On your own titanium wings
Driven by chemical fi res,
But sleep, now,
Sleep in the natural dark.