pre·rog·a·tive
–noun
1.an exclusive right, privilege, etc., exercised by virtue of rank, office, or the like
2.a right, privilege, etc., limited to a specific person or to persons of a particular category
3.a power, immunity, or the like restricted to a sovereign government or its representative
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010
"A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave."
(Mohandas Gandhi)
Cut
What a thrill ----
My thumb instead of an onion.
The top quite gone
Except for a sort of hinge
Of skin,
A flap like a hat,
Dead white.
Then that red plush.
Little pilgrim,
The Indian's axed your scalp.
Your turkey wattle
Carpet rolls
Straight from the heart.
I step on it,
Clutching my bottle
Of pink fizz. A celebration, this is.
Out of a gap
A million soldiers run,
Redcoats, every one.
Whose side are they one?
O my
Homunculus, I am ill.
I have taken a pill to kill
The thin
Papery feeling.
Saboteur,
Kamikaze man ----
The stain on your
Gauze Ku Klux Klan
Babushka
Darkens and tarnishes and when
The balled
Pulp of your heart
Confronts its small
Mill of silence
How you jump ----
Trepanned veteran,
Dirty girl,
Thumb stump.
Sylvia Plath
