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GOOD GERMANS
for Cheryl
We sit before the tube
and groan or weep
at the atrocities
being done in our name
We have marched
and signed petitions
and emailed our congress-
persons, signed our name,
and written poems,
oh, the thousands of poems
we have written
under our name
for all the other poets
to read and feel
self-righteous about
and to burnish our name
and all we have done
amounts to but a pile
of spent shells
and tarnished our name
because we haven’t
marched
on the Capitol
and bled in the streets
in the name of justice and peace.
NIGHT SWEAT
Crisis stalks the capital
The insurgents threaten chaos
The president cannot sleep
His troops take losses
The president lies sweating
Demonstrators ring the capitol
He craves a drink
Drink was his nirvana
His wife vetoed drinking
Drink made him brave
She threatened to leave
He can taste it
Crisis stalks the
president
He craves a drink
He can taste it
The demonstrators won’t leave
His throat feels parched
He sweats all night
George Held is a poet, writer, and reviewer who lives in Manhattan. |