eyes flinching from daylight.

the intrusive revelation-

exposure. here we are.

feigning some pious observance. (look busy!) pass

for a true believer.

the surface appearance preserves the order.

seditious thought/makes not a single dent/not a scuff/not a bruise/upon that perfect gloss.

II.

wait for what? some unpunctual Dorothy to break the spell?

Draw aside the curtain/to show there's no one there?

the impersonal whirring of a self-perpetuating machine.

Moloch who devours each sacrifice/with neither relish/

nor distaste.