Moaning

the remarkable thing
about the national moaning
is its reach — soft as it is
it has been heard in North Dakota
as clearly as it has in Boston

it’s been cleaning skeletons
with its gentle scrubbing
they skip and shine
it’s a beautiful dance

we don’t want to know where it sits
or
who is moaning
don’t want to dance the dance

we just want to be told
the minute it’s OK to moan along
we have dead bones of our own
that we’ve never been able to clean