Drowning Out the End of Democracy

By Bill O’Connell

I’d rather trim my grass and sit when I want to

than tackle the world gone rogue —

Trump’s hawking crypto and missiles

in the Middle East, abetting genocide.

I’d rather clip a rosebush, plant more peas —

I’d rather keep this small kingdom tight,

clear whirly maple seeds from gutters, scrape

paint instead of the crap in the news

out of my ears, flush the mind’s worry down

with raspberry iced tea, smoke another one

and turn up the music in the garden to ten.

****

Bill O’Connell has lived in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts since 1984. A retired social worker, he teaches literature and writing at Greenfield Community College.