— A dry drunk takes a drink. He lapses. A parolee reoffends. He lapses. An Executive putrefies. It lapses. A Congress crumbles, a Court colludes. They lapse. From Latin lapsus, a “slip,” a “mistake.”
A defining word for a moment captures the moment in a captivating way.
Think of something legendarily large, say, the Colossus of Rhodes,
Wonder-of-the-world-level specimen of attentional dimension,
Commensurate with, say, a full-on breakdown in the cereal aisle
Of the supermarket of nations. Colossus. Now we’re cooking.
Pre-position a connective which establishes relationship,
A dependency, if you will, descriptive at the same time as of ownership.
Of’s the word, bacterium of grammar so explosive it lights a fuse.
O my soul, you cry, pray thee but say it: Colossus of what?
Lapsus. Now we’re cooking. A slip. A mistake. A falling down.
A con. Congress of convicts. Confraternity of concupiscence.
Knock yourself out with the connotations, this is America!
Speech is free, first amendment from the mountains to the sea,
Land of the freaked, the frazzled, up with fucked we shall not put,
Appertaining to the which, O sweet battered hulk, we sing of thee.
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