Today is the day
when the President wakes up
bubbling at the corners of his mouth
and a shark takes issue
with his face
for having no sharp teeth.

Today is the day
when the President’s honorable adversary
dines upon shark for breakfast and feels strong
as an ape munching on Gaza
who claims the office upon knowing the President
has no stomach has for the war beyond winning it.

Today is the day
no one cares about the war, the President,
his adversaries, his allies,
Gaza, the great state of Texas;
today is a calm day indeed when
it comes to the conduct of the war because

today is the day
when the earth warms up one more degree
and some of us grow terrified but
the bulk of us relax in the comfort provided
by the hope of two more degrees
and two strong arms to rock us;

today is the day
when the light grows behind the shades
and the blinds illuminate by degrees
and we grow to dread the sunrise for coming up
this slowly, as if the sunrise was not inexorable
and the buds on the trees could grow more swiftly.

Today is the day
no one cares here in the suburbs
or in the calm milquetoast of a small city
where in the twilight before the day begins
we start the car radio on the way to work
and shake our fat heads at the noises;

today is the day
you pace the living room seeking comfort,
a quick end, a surprise of violence
instead of the shrug you normally feel.
You are going to make it. You aren’t going
to make it. You care or you don’t.

Today is the day
you sing along with the President,
the Vice President, and all the members
of Congress. You have a fine voice,
strong lungs, a penchant for singing.
You aren’t a shark or an ape, thanks to some dark god.

In the blue before dawn
you think of the Gaza kids before pulling away;
in the blue before dawn you think of other kids
the world — kids in Moscow, in Nagadoches.
You shake them off, like the song says on the radio.
Warmer and warmer. Sun’s coming. Shake it off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
onward,
T