ostracize the wounded; listen!

to the way they graze over sidewalks,
varicose:
              un! deux! trois! quatre! cinq!
counting bones and the chipped teeth
of sun-browned children,  they come
wanting:
              six! sept! huit! neuf! dix!

plus one/subtract the liver, and stipple
the ribs  with  paint;  this  thin  viscus,
crippled  with  veins  -  -  stilled  eyes
some porphyry and  feldspar  flecked,
from dune:
                onze! douze! treize! quatorze! quinze!
counting small rodents and bag pipes  -  -
lisping fingers  from  the wagon train
like pale arachnids between the spokes,
and still they come with their
                         tarsals and metatarsals
severed, splintered, slivered, silvered;
the tranquil wounded,  they  are  cold - -
and azure - -
they march:
                seize! dix-sept! dix-huit! dix-neuf! vingt!
they count small blue toes,
and the beetles between them.