Le Coeur a gaz, 1923

in three short acts
the last spectacle on the program
was a complete dada farce
with a trumpet in front of the infuriated audience
playing the Marseillaise.
this time around, there were no professional
actors to storm out singing
about the utter pointlessness
of playing body parts in cubist costumes
made of stiff tubing
which reduced their walking to a geriatric shuffle.
out front, the police heard the angry voices and stormed inside
where the fights between the dadaists and the future
surrealists began in earnest, with several badly beaten
and in no mood to be mollified.
shouts for order bounced off walls, hitting no one.
damage to the theater was considerable.
seats were smashed and faces bloodied.
Aragon tried to rescue Eluard while
the police arrested the entire audience,
but it all was a big misunderstanding.