This poem is taken from Poetry Nation 3 Number 3, 1974.

Seven Around A Revolution

John Matthias

I - A Gift

He is the Tribune of The People,
He is Babeuf. The others speculate,

But he is Babeuf. The others
Speculate and steal. Gracchus

Out of Plutarch, he takes
The crudely fashioned knife

Made by his son from a candlestick
For his (the father's) suicide.

He hones it on his eloquent tongue.
He says, smiling enigmatically:

Here, it is yours. Do what you can.


II - Alternatives

One announces in papers:
Seeking the patronage of the rich

To further my work. For a decade
It will always be noon.
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