Wednesday, February 21, 2018

jagged individualism



scarcity defines the
              parameters of vision
in the outback town separated
                   by the continental divide
        from their nearest 
urban magnet
          winds blow dust and tumbleweed
up and down the alleys
               between the buildings and the
traffic lights
            a mythic pastoral pastiche
overlays the scene from afar
          on brochures of Yampa River
flowing through canyons
       while within the tensions and
conflicts reach back into the 
                legends of outlaws
catholics despise the fundies
           who return the contempt
on steroids
        brown and black faces edge
sidewalks ...school hallways...
        K- Mart aisles and the waiting
room of indigent clinic
               gays dare not come out
of their closet
               wives are trophies for
ego display
         similar to the trophy heads
on the walls of their dens
         “suped-up” half-tons
shoulder rifles on racks
      in rear cab windows
and boast nra decals on their
                  rear-ends
coffee shops buzz with
          ridicule of those
tree-huggers in cities, the
     "girlie Rav-4's" and the
"gay" liberals in the capital….
          walking town streets
is risking random shots
      fired at a sparrow innocently
chirping on a clothesline
        an ex-marine tries to impress his
twelve-year-old daughter
         with his machismo
as she pleads with him
not to shoot...
         with 87% of this county
voting for trump
can the country survive
         him and his 
bigoted testosterone
troops?

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home