We’re Having a Day
(as they say in midwestern parts of the USA)
I’m having a good moment
Because exhaustion has caught up
With me,
And I slept through the dewy
Then the sunlit parts of morning
It’s hazy outside
Later on, there might be rain
I washed some dishes, dried a few,
Left the rest in the rack
(to dry, not to be tortured)
Made some tea, warmed up
A couple rolls,
Broke free a banana
Now I’m here
Breakfast and writing, though it’s
Shortly after one o’clock
I’m here
Where are you?
How has your day been so far?
Good day, I hope
We each need one
I think of all the spots on fire
Burning into hatred
And simple, dangerous
Needless larceny
(but for those who lose
and shouldn’t have to)
There are the other fires, woodland
And volcanoes
There are small hatreds, too
No one in my building
Likes each other,
And I don’t know how
To reconcile the importance of
My problems
Against those in bigger cities,
Wilder places
But we’re all here
I think there must be a reason
It used to be that people
Would drop by
In southern places
I don’t know if that still
Goes on,
Though there can be charm
And even balm
In this
All the hatred that’s incited—in
Part, I blame the leadership
Large part
Yes, the thing that’s in the
White House
And its cronies
Another league of hatred turned to
Disgust for power, inhabiting
The Congress
You know, a vampire smile
Doesn’t hide the fact
That you’re a vampire
And those lurking behind,
Around
Who rake in ever-sordid
Kinds of profit
You know who you are
Though the last thing you desire
Is the light of day as well
What do my small problems
Have to do with these?
I think it’s that
Most of us simply want to live
Have our babies
Keep a home
Go to church or
Temple when we should
Look at those we do not know
And wonder who they are
Only in idle ways
Until by surprise or small design
We meet them
Not so bad, we’ll baldly say
To ourselves and our companions,
While the neighborhood grows
In kinship
A little, as is said, at a time
It’s what we want
A life
We’ll work for it
But all the subterfuge from
All the kinds of hell
We can do without
Take it from us, please
Maybe we can vote it
Out of office
Though I think something more
Is called for
To quiet my third-floor neighbor
To extinguish flames of anarchy
(ridiculous, they say, and sublime)
To find another way than
By looking at and by praising anger as
A tone and an intent
For the nation
We need the superheroes
Justice League
Justice Society
Avengers, reassemble
But then we can’t have these
Though we can have the comics
And the movies
And the CW
We can have heroics on the upside
And the inside
But I’m afraid we’ll have to be
Our Thors
Our Wonder Women
Even the Watchmen (Watch People)
On the outside
A new assembly
Maybe based on old heroics
With some rules, some standards
That we find in ancient literature,
Stories retold
Many of us hear them once a week
(though if your leaders are yelling
there, go somewhere else)
I’m done for now
While some of you
Dear ones
Saving ones
Are only starting
C L Couch
Photo by Donovan Valdivia on Unsplash
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