day ONE HUNDRED and EIGHTY TWO

On the Anniversary of Kristallnacht, Donald Trump is Elected President

It starts with breaking glass --
a brick thrown,
Jewish storefront shattered.
Businesses destroyed.
The vile Other punished.
(All that has been worked for
in ruins.)

If I didn’t know,
the German word sounds pretty,
tinkles, conjures flutes of champagne
raised in toast.

If we didn’t know.

Numb, stunned, tearful,
some of us get passports, put
our houses up for sale.
Others start the work.

We try to soothe the children, promise
to protect the weak. If he makes 
Muslims register, 
we’ll say we’re Muslim.

Still, the nuclear codes.
The blighted planet.
Klan members dancing on a bridge.
The way fracked water burns.

First reports: Hijabs ripped off,
a gay man stabbed.

Protests begin.
Our hearts are breaking.
How the pieces catch the light.

--Alison Stone