The firebrand lost his head
on account of a piece
of unsolicited marriage counseling.
Perhaps he loved his work too much?
Now that he’s got his top
underarm
closer to his heart
you wonder what he’ll speak
to power about unreasonable affections.
When his disciples came
to take away his body
they found it crying like a baby
because just before the severance
a bird had flown into his cell
and was hurt by him
as he tried to help it out.
It wasn’t fair that a life
so fragile should suffer
by a rough and clumsy hand.
In taking away his body
his disciples accidentally
dropped his upmost part.
They too began to cry.
It wasn’t fair
all this clumsy cruelty.