Snapshot Poem for Tuesday 03 March 02020

 

  Super Tuesday

 

I stand before the judge

debt collector to my left 

what is owed must be paid

behind us, all the children 

(shades dark to light)

behind them, the parents 

then the wooden pallets 

then the metal fence 

 

tornadoes come 

the chain links vibrate 

with an electric hum 

the pallets fall to dust 

the winds lift buildings 

and automobiles, drop 

them to the ground 

like coins     dozens 

 

(humans) missing 

or dead (no one counts 

the others) hundreds 

more (black & brown) 

stand in lines for hours 

to cast their votes 

(do they count?) 

markets plummet 

 

officials reassure us 

only the already-ill,

old, disabled, will die 

& too few of them 

in the larger picture         

old, already-ill, I climb 

to my bed and dream 

I stand before the judge

sharon brogan 

march 02020