DESCENT

Esther was named
After her grandmother
Who was named after an aunt
Who bore the name
Of a half-sister who carried
Her own mother's name
For three days and a half.
The progression
Is long, not endless.
You can trace this line
Back and back and back
Until you are in Babylon
With Ishtar, the lion-rider
Who made an angry trip
To Hell and came back
Still angry but without
Any clothes.

BY CANDLELIGHT

As I slouch towards Babylon to be born
A very old car pulls up next to me
The driver leaning out the window shouts  

"Not Babylon, You damned fool! Bethlehem!

Slouch towards Bethlehem!"
I ignore him. What can it matter if I am born
In New York or Pennsylvania? Besides,
The roads are filled with rough beasts these days;
There's no way of telling us apart.