In the Next Life, Canto III, stanzas 76-81

And after all these babies had been born,
some sperm was needed for another brood.
All healthy males had sworn a solemn oath,
and none would risk a life of solitude.

No girl would just steal from her mother’s friend.
The women, though, knew something had to give.
If all gave up toward a higher end,
with common husbands most of them could live.

So fatherhood among the men was shared—
a free-love commune they had once thought weird.
Those who had problems with it and who dared
to leave the compound never reappeared.

This history young Ciral had discerned
from diaries and vital stats and lists.
About a part of them he had not learned—
A part who called themselves Rejectionists.

These couldn’t stand to live in a commune
because that way involved self-sacrifice,
and when one steals, one’s rationales impugn
themselves. Thus, they’d been violated twice.

In short, their principles were much the same
as those their fellow compound-dwellers held,
but theirs were based on more than just a name.
Their rules of life were by man’s nature spelled.

A part: cf. ‘a part of who we are’ in Ciral’s first exchange with Darna

©2010 Louis A. Merrimac