Only Tell Me Which Is Which

Only Tell Me Which Is Which


1.
I am Woodrow Wilson in Indiana. I am Margaret Sanger before Ernst Rudin. Consider Sir Francis Galton’s hairy knuckles exposed while reading his cousin’s book. Consider Alexander Graham Bell’s high stepping cattle as shown to the American Breeders' Association. I’m talking about regression towards the mean. I'm talking about the rising ape. The men of Tuskegee are only numbers. There are no choices, only a general downward slide. We need a loan from the genius bank. We must sever the posterior from posterity. We must breed men like carthorses. Catch the falling angel and steal its wings. We’ve got to get the feeble-minded off the tax payers’ backs. We hold each other back


2.
I am Woodrow Wilson in Indiana.
I am Margaret Sanger before Ernst Rudin.
Consider Sir Francis Galton’s hairy knuckles
exposed while reading his cousin’s book.
Consider Alexander Graham Bell’s high stepping
cattle as shown to the American Breeders' Association.
I’m talking about regression towards the mean.
I'm talking about the rising ape.
The men of Tuskegee are only numbers.
There are no choices, only a general downward slide.
We need a loan from the genius bank.
We must sever the posterior from posterity.
We must breed men like carthorses.
Catch the falling angel and steal its wings.
We’ve got to get the feeble-minded
off the tax payers’ backs.
We hold each other back


C.L. Bledsoe


Posted over on Right Hand Pointing
from his Chapbook, GOODBYE TO NOISE.
1. Cortney's prose poem.
2. Line breaks by Glenn Buttkus