January 20th, 2017
“There is no such thing as the State
And no one exists alone;
Hunger allows no choice
To the citizen or the police;
We must love one another or die.”
– W.H. Auden
I had
begun
to think
my dreams
were lost
forever
but then
the Moon broke over me
into a billion pieces
of Mr. T cereal
and the Sun cried rivers
of whole, white milk.
Thus, with a mouthful
of crispy sweet corn
and oats,
I screamed
to the Moon-missing Heavens above,
“Thank you, God,
for not ignoring me
in my darkest hour!
Thank you for forcing
your chosen son
to descend
from his cloud-cloaked tower
to restore a sheen –
to fix the ills –
to burn the unbelievers
with a golden
inarticulate.
But mostly,
thank you for sending
someone who is just like me,
a real man rich with rapacious desire
to own everything and everyone –
to only be
the American Dream
like our fathers
before us.
My God!
I never knew
Democracy paid
such dividends!”
Whole, sun milk
dribbled
down
my
chin,
and
my poor heart
burst
from so much hope
and sugar
and grace.