You find out what’s a poem the Hard way some times
A scrap of line you threw away two days Ago and now look at you bent over the dumpster at the waist
Sneaking a bite of pizza while you Think no one can see you It’s not everyday that the end of the world is announced one terrible loss at a time
Mental hygiene they used to say As a joke On the billboards along the Parkway Nobody laughed that anyone knows
Now its just okay, are you saying I’m not essential Or are you saying that You don’t even want to be friends Breaking up is Never cut and dry. Industrial hygiene, by the way, is a weapon Not a joke.
Every law is obeyed in the end, over time – Or have we forgotten the news of the day. Track those lights across the sky into the dawn of This was never dreamed, but Feared all the same.
Ground-nesting birds A nervous harbor bell A bumper sticker that reads: This too shall pass – As we overtake the Last thing we lost.
As we set sail With whatever remains
Monte Merrick
This article appears in Saturday Morning Shots.
Beautiful and sad and true.