you cherish a lurking suspicion 

 and, behind the guests' backs, 

 stealthily, you sniff the air per- 

 sistently and in a knowing way, 

 in order to discern any hidden 

 intentions. 



But halting footsteps resound 

 outside the kitchen. This time it 

 is the poor man dragging his 

 crutch, the unmistakable enemy, 

 the hereditary enemy, the direct 

 descendant of him who roamed 

 outside the bone-cramped 

 which you suddenly see 

 in your racial memory. Drunk 



