William Ward Butler

Capital

as in punishment for murder;

            as in letters, red cursive

            spilling from Marat’s throat—

                        as in the assassin who stabbed him

in the bathtub; capital

            as in cities, centers

            of power; power as in commerce,

                        why any major city has proximity

to water; the water rubied

            with industry’s algal bloom

            like Marat’s tub—o, how the algorithm

                        doomed us; domed as in a basilica

or a bullet to the brain; capital

            from the Latin capitalis, as in head

            of cattle, as in chattel slavery,

                        as in children of privilege telling me

they want to grow up

            to be rich and powerful.            .