Wednesday, May 31, 2017

day ONE HUNDRED and THIRTY TWO

the worst

i wake up expecting the worst
i check the new york times
the washington post, cnn
and fox new (for balance)
before the sleep is even out of my eyes
as if it were par for the course
we live in heavy times
we live with madmen waving flags
and running freedoms into the dirt
we’ve made their brutality
as common as a cup of coffee
a little headline to flip past on your phone
so maybe you shouldn’t expect
to take your kids to see some pop star sing
and make it home alive
watch out for the flying shrapnel
as the keyboard ends and the pink balloons fly
maybe an evening filled with security
is simply too much to ask for these days
at least twenty-two dead in manchester
add that to the twenty dead in sandy hook
add it to the hundreds of thousands in syria
in iraq, in afghanistan, in africa, take it all the way
back to those planes slamming into our collective ego
go back as far as you can
start counting the bodies
in a mathematical quagmire of carnage
that would drive einstein mad
try and figure out what kind of animal you are
look at the monster on the other side of the mirror
that allows this circus of blood to move on
suck down the capitulation like a latte
flip over to the sports page for some solace
binge watch it all away
but brace yourself for the next big hit
because it’s coming whether you want it or not
like the bridge to a top 40 hit
that’s stuck in your head
and won’t leave…no matter what you do.

--John Grochalski


                                    

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