H e a r t S o n s & H e a r t D a u g h t e r s of A l l e n G i n s b e r g

N a p a l m H e a l t h S p a : R e p o r t 2 0 1 4 : A r c h i v e s E d i t i o n

MICHAEL PINGARRON

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

[Originally published in NHS 2004, http://www.poetspath.com/napalm/nhs04/Michael_Pingarron.html.]