the politico

(This piece is by no means new--it was written about a year and a half ago, but recently got re-edited. I think it has some merit, despite the fact it's overwritten.)

Pace yourself, save some for later, but no—
& in this flagrant dereliction there is only a stumbling gait
capable of shooting you right off a cliff into your own skin
(all along you were naked without foliage)
& upon your inauspicious arrival to the solid earth no horns will sound.

The lurid orchestras will remain hushed; you’ll see this
martyrdom is not what it seemed when you were interviewed for the cause—
(don’t worry, dear, you’ll get dental)
There is nothing permanent in this throttling mania, so here,
Take this trafficked burden & have a great trip.

The lilting musical introduction did nothing to soften an entrance so abrasive
Dragging in the proverbial tabby
by its knotted, gnarled tongue.
Taking reign behind your prophet’s pulpit,
Before God himself, pausing for genuflection—
you state your case for the world’s shattering iniquities
& your own foolish ineptitude.

A hungry crowd forms to gobble the words plummeting from your slack mouth
Personalized raindrop bombs on the community swimming pool
Shut up—
You’re preaching to the converted.

Perhaps this is what you were built to do—
of paperclips & amateur origami, strung together with week-old gum--
Your two-bit maelstrom impresses only the clapping ants on the floor,
you miserable plutocrat, you’re still pandering in tune to Chariots of Fire
But the kettle drumming is now the writhing, rhythmic fracture of your own alabaster skullcap
So go ahead, you thundering lunatic—
Crash, bang, stomp
Onward in your quest to rise above your laughable pomp and circumstance...

See what I care.

Here, though, your voice wavers,
then silences.
your face turns cardinal,
tear hurtling down your leather cheekbone
(this is the moment, now, in the harsh bright fight)
it clicks. You realize
those damned harbingers of worse times,
they were right.