no more red balloons
Today i fell in love with a subway trumpeteer
who peered through crystallized coals,
& told me the story of a broken vase
& the cause of the Great Depression;
while Sessions was disbarred
& the sparring in the Middle East moved home.
Bones crippled by the violence consuming
my blooming mania
& the zany shadows warping in the morning
warning me of the plummeting temps outside
biding some time to just finish my goddamn laundry.
The quandary of today lies in the sickled cavities
of the spies signing your paystubs
rubbing cayenne into the festering wound
spooning Spam out of your bank account
amounting to less than the gross sum of your parts.
They lock our hearts in freezers & vaults,
& nobody takes fault,
except the backs of the ants we crush under
the thunder of our too busy lives,
bribes & panty liners & Viagra.
We must go on.
Thrust forth with all the strength
of a Caterpillar dismembered by a lord
who never even saw it curl beneath his toe.
Lo & behold, he never heard a peep,
& at his trial, he screamed of his ignorance,
his innocence written in the ribs he
ripped from the woods & planted in his window box.
& the jury drops its jowls in shock!
Howls “how could a worm get in a lord's way?!”
Say, stamp of approval & freedom for criminals
minimal justice in cavernous throat
voting for the chance at a voice
a choice to rattle the prison bars on our vocal cords.
It’s a freedom not afforded to most
but the ghosts of the forefathers who we now reject
as we recollect the history they choose to ignore
We swore up & down that we’d make it right
but fight requires belief and faith;
safety, funding, weapons…
Heaven forbids we crack the Liberty Bell,
Hell forbids we rebuild the Twin Towers.
We flower & shower the youth of today
May they grow the paths & the overalls & the muskets
That, fuck it, we needed but couldn’t get because the union was on strike
Psyching themselves up for a few measly Chic-Lets that would never be tossed
Un-flossed teeth come raining down on us as the sugar becomes tar caked in our molars.
They let us eat cake & gravel & identity
Then took away the ovens & burned the recipes.
How does a pirate pirate without swords & ships & doubloons?
How do we fight with no red balloons?
