I’ve a print of this poem, signed by the poet. It was first published on Failbetter.com and then in Hayes’s Hip Logic. I recall that when he read it at a Gist Street reading, he said it was inspired by the events of Sept. 11, 2001. I was struck by it at the time; looking at it in light of current world events, I see all new things in it.
Nuclear
How to make a nation say, uncle.
In other words: How to rule.
We learn
there will be no clue
before it happens. No clear
sign from the Cosmos. A clan-
destine airplane will appear wrapped in the lace
of a black dream. Then a flash like an ulcer
bursting in God’s gut. Citizens who goggle & race
about the city as the sky becomes a caul-
dron. The bones burn clean.
–Terence Hayes
1. End words must be derived from four or more letters.
2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of ‘s,’ such as ‘bats’ or ‘dies’ are not used.
3. Only one form of a verb is used.