he waits with torso naked for the passersby to see &

touch if they dare

this man yoked, with a gnarled hump &

twisted frame

who comes day by day to offer himself

as the least of us

to remind the strong of the lost, the violent of the humble,

the proud of the weak &

though the air is brittle & the ground is wet,

he comes with cup in hand & alone

as are we all

who wait for our bus that will arrive soon &

with it the inescapable & most perfect fact

we are bound to a future we know not

& will only taste once.

It was a lie. In a foreign country. By the side of the road. Oleanders. Under cover of darkness.

It was a lie. Rummaging around the hayloft. Through the brambles. That gold coin. Molasses.

It was a lie. & she told it well. Like an artist disguises the truth with her pallet knife. Like snow drifts.

It was a lie. Fumbling under her skirt. Wishing for water. Drilling for oil. Hunting. His last clear shot. Smoke.

It was a lie. Begging to be discovered. Ratcheting up the odds. Sterile music. Open sewers. Sweet cream & Karaoke.

It was a lie. How did we come to this? Why would you say such a thing? What’s really troubling you? Hopscotch.

It was a lie. Preamble. Sequel. Sequestered. Sold. Into bondage. Smothered. By mother. Love in the time of Jihad. Quarantine.

It was a lie. In your dream of falling. Naked she came & naked she went. All about Eve. All about Jessica. All about . . . Does it matter now?

It was a lie. Daylight’s waning. Here’s the map. We must go. She smokes a thin Cubana. Blowing smoke-rings, blowing, blowing . . . up & gone.

For Senator Susan Collins

I am your devastating, willful & intoxicating nightmare. I am the conscious you have displaced, the spy in your house of hypocrisy.

When you brush your teeth & glance in the mirror, you’ll see me over your shoulder, when you take your morning shower, I’ll be holding your towel.

When you mocked ‘Advice & Consent’ by ignoring facts in favor of personal political gain, you opened a door too often locked & invited me in.

& Even though I may be easy to denigrate or deride, I’ll still be at work inserting myself deeper in your psyche – erecting headstones etched with the names –

names of those whose lives will be abused, displaced or even lost by decisions made in your name, your history, your discharge of ‘duty.’

Oh – I know you’re not alone in this. Your compatriots share the blame – yours however is distinct – you were the critical linchpin & as such

bear the curse alone – the weight of which I will wield over you all the days & nights you have left on your way to your grave.

October 7^th2018
The day after Judge Kavanagh was confirmed by the US Senate

The crafty dodger sets up his card-table at the edge of the park & waits like the Jackal he is – for the sucker in the blue parka with ‘Stop Me If You Can’ stitched across the back of his jacket & when he arrives fresh from the market or a catch-it-when-you-can crap-game or was it a lazy liaison with his sister’s friend Camille, the Jackal strikes. Today it’s Three-Card-Monte where the ace-of-hearts slips between two black kings or does it . . . & So – we watch closely as the plump man in the little red ball-cap chatters & cajoles & moves his cards from right to left & left to right until the idea of the Red Ace is merely a momentary memory in the mind’s eye & when the sucker picks the wrong card & loses his ten bucks we’re not surprised but we are when he asks to try again & again & still again & it’s then we listen to the Jackal in the red ball-cap as he chants his chant, ridiculing one disgraced disciple while castigating another & promising great wealth while stuffing his own already fat pockets, promising security & moral certitude while yanking babies from their mother’s arms & when the next sucker sidles up real brave & sure-of-himself the fat man in the little red ball-cap claps him on the back & begins his rancid rap again & steals the money again & on & on goes the scam & the captivated crowd roars their unwavering approval & now it seems, even after lie after lie after lie, no one can pull them away from the Flimflam-Man in the little red cap & his mesmerizing Rap & Roll.