SWAN MILL

Last night I got the answer to

what goes on at Swan Mill.

There is a machine there to mechanically debone swans,

for swan meat tastes good.

But according to a doctoral thesis

I apparently had written about the subject

there is not much meat on a swan.

Most of it is eustatic

I explained during my defence,

without wondering about that word.

The meat is chopped fine with the aid of oblique

rotating knives, the so-called cutters,

and the intestines are emptied in long trails of sea grass.

Afterwards, the carcass is hoisted up by its webbed feet

and driven off for incineration.

Then the surroundings changed.

The foreman began to explain

about the new political situation,

the rules for offside and the recipe for mock turtle.

I was to read out a poem,

but had the feeling

that the things that took place

were part of a socio-psychological experiment,

and that those responsible for the experiment

were themselves part of a socio-psychological experiment.

It is reality on all channels.

To see the entire collection in translation, go to here.

johnirons