day THIRTEEN HUNDRED and FORTY FOUR

Running

running on high octane
jet fuel and gasoline
motor oil and beef fat
superpower lies
glitter, ball caps
cocked AR-15s
and disdain

disdain for the intellectual
scientific, measured
approach to problems
afflicting the poor, the sick
the oppressed, the refugee
the huddled can stay huddled
while the masses stay home
ordering online, scared
of the theater of violence
magnified and imagined
trolled and bot-spread
on blue-lit screens

disdain for accountability
institutions destroyed
by a mobbed-up
cleanup crew
divesting itself
of the swamp
while filling the swamp
with bloodsuckers
and scum

disdain for those with less
with responsibility
with anything
other than adulation
of the spectacle
of absolute power
arrogant ignorance
turned lethal
turned unbeatable
turned unelectable
but steadfast
in disdain

with no disdain
for despotism
for destroying
the political system
they control
they disdain
they worship
the gilded throne
elevating their autocrat
running, running
from the Constitution
from the rule of law
to remake America
to make America
grate again


--Mickey Corrigan