57321: Louse Hunting

<p dir="ltr"> Nudes---stark and glistening,<br> Yelling in lurid glee. Grinning faces<br> And raging limbs<br> Whirl over the floor one fire.<br> For a shirt verminously busy<br> Yon soldier tore from his throat, with oaths<br> Godhead might shrink at, but not the lice.<br> And soon the shirt was aflare<br> Over the candle he'd lit while we lay.<br> Then we all sprang up and stript<br> To hunt the verminous brood.<br> Soon like a demons' pantomime<br> The place was raging.<br> See the silhouettes agape,<br> See the gibbering shadows<br> Mixed with the battled arms on the wall.<br> See gargantuan hooked fingers<br> Pluck in supreme flesh<br> To smutch supreme littleness.<br> See the merry limbs in hot Highland fling<br> Because some wizard vermin<br> Charmed from the quiet this revel<br> When our ears were half lulled<br> By the dark music<br> Blown from Sleep's trumpet.</p>