Jane Austen’s Shadow

Harold Bloom (corpulent-lipped
under-table caresser of the young
and lip-sealed unwilling fearful
thinking of her career that he cannot
aid but can destroy)
says that the Western Canon
is a Hotel with limited Rooms therein
from which one must Evict
its current Occupant to take the slot
on the Required Reading List,
but what he fails to mention
is the rooms are marked like public toilets
and only a scarce few designated
LADIES.

First published in Residual Heat under my pseudonym Aga Black.