during
the passage of a day
up
in the morning
I
dress drink my coffee
and
depart
I
buy a ticket
on
an airplane
hijacked
I
travel travel travel
farther than
my
father
fire
rises throughout this land
and
consume me
I
leave with my ashes
scattered
on the wind of its breath
as
hot as an insomniac computer
the
world flames up as its heart beats
I
burn I learn
many
hidden secrets few
believe
are true
their
darkness shines
like
a precious stone
locked
safely in a vault
I'm
told not to care
by
a floppy disked god
made
in my image and likeness
who
protects me from myself
and
from gangs of komodo dragons
holed
up in Baghdad
I'm
urged to hate those
who
don't understand
our
mythic slogan lingo
of
loss and sacrifice
locked
in the president's
briefcase
carried
under guard
and
labeled
top
secret
declaring
there's
still hope
we'll
win the lottery
by
selling millions as slaves
in
the promised land
of
despair
we
caw like crows for salvation
dead
bodies hung
like
scarecrows
complaining
about comfort
on
death rows full
of
famished hyenas
who
laugh as they rip
every
sacred morsel of mystery
from
our dreams
I
know it's hopeless as
I
hear nationalist hymns
and
anthems
crooning
about freedom
curtailed
to
save us from its wicked curse
making
me shake my head
hoping
to scatter
fear
and hate
2/28/04
cruises
the river Styx
Charon
could use some help
and
another boat to cross
the
river
corpses
arrive everyday
and
he's always ferried
faithfully
casualties
from wars
plagues
and untimely accidents
are
usual passengers
waving
a long goodbye
but
still Charon keeps
his
ferry cruising
the
callouses on his hands
are
as hard as a
politician's
heart
and
the black waters
of
the river land us
where
life
is
a distant dream
a
fading thought
not
a wager
or
a bluff
just
something Charon
finishes
with
the first
and
final strokes
of
his oar
10/18/02
a
hunchbacked nation
a
nation with a hunchback
getting
bigger every four years
uses
it as a benefit
there's
wheelchairs for everyone
and
a specially reserved
parking
place
near
the front door of
a
pharmacy where it cops
all
the medicine imaginable
curing
pain and
keeping
you functional is
important
for a peon
everything
else depends
on
how the budget's used
and
that's always in flux
a
doctor who
by
popular opinion is mad
dissected
departed hunchbacks
and
discovered the hump to be
makeshift
trash dumps full
of
odd things
they
were littered with
computers empty pill jars
used
syringes
automatic
rifles sheriff's' badges
a
baby's booties credit cards
cash
registers
promissory
notes
bad novels
westerns
starring
John
Wayne
speeches
by George Bush
second
mortgages and
eviction
notices
despite
our efforts
to
stop this horrific
trend
more
people with
hunchbacks
appear each
and
every year
no
cure has been found
and
some think
there
is none
believing
their fate
one
of power and affluence
is
the same as Quasimodo's
who
as Hugo tells us
was
employed ringing a bell
at
a cathedral in Paris
10/16/03