DEVIL'S CRADLE

Black man hanged on a silver tree;

( Down by the river,

Slow river,

White breast,

White face with blood on it. )

Black man creaks in the wind,

Knees slack.

Brown poppies, melting in moonlight,

Swerve on glistening stems

Across an endless field

To the music of a blood white face

And a tired little devil child

Rocked to sleep on a rope.