The seduction of boys vii: Atlas Shrugged in public

An American youth doesn't have

to be very bright to realise,

he is mentored every day to re-

fine his aggressions to surpass

the power of others. Now he sees

this instruction embodied in nom-

inations for higher office of a

pair of conspicuously cruel men,

doing their best to justify them-

selves as saviours of the nation.

Who is watching to see what warp
this shock inflicts?

At first it came easily, with the knowledge of the shadow line

Picking its way through various landscapes before coming

To stand far from you, to bless you incidentally

In sorting out what was best for it, and most suitable.

Like snow having second thoughts and coming back

To be wary about this, to embellish that, as though life were a

   party

At which work got done. So we wiggled in our separate

   positions

And stayed in them for a time. After something has passed

You begin to see yourself as you would look to yourself on a

   stage,

Appearing to someone. But to whom? Ah, that's just it,

To have the manners, and the look that comes from having a

   secret

Isn't enough. But that "not enough" isn't to be worn like a

   livery,

To be briefly noticed, yet among whom should it be seen? I

   haven't

Thought about these things in years; that's my luck.

In time even the rocks will grow. And if you have curled and

   dandled

Your innocence once too often, what attitude isn't then really

   yours?

John Ashbery

Punishing the Myth

  Shadow Train

  Collected Poems, 1956-1987

op. cit.