Who was it on TikTok that held
Joy of Cooking in front of his chest
and had his wife shoot a Glock at him?
Béchamel a runny red. Holes in the
bullet bread.
What story goes bang bang
through both my eyes?
I see more clearly when I'm
shattered, jelly, shards –
blindness relieving me of the world.
I think Aristotle first said:
"Load your words like the clip
of an Uzi. Shoot first, ask questions
later." I touch my books,
line them up for target practice.
Libraries fall. Their voices and songs
dragged into a courtyard
behind the orangery. Blindfolded,
a last cigarette. The Comandante raises
his sword.
Words and truth,
will not save us.
For Shay’s Word Garden
And Rattle Ekphrastic Challenge
qbit 
Wow. This is an amazing read. I was right there with you, every line. The closing is perfect. So good.
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Oh thank you so much!!
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what an immersive apocalyptic poem – loved it! Jae
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Thank you so much Jae!
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Banning books doesn’t eliminate their truth. Truth is a constant, and like honey badger, it don’t care. It will still be here after all the BS is over with.
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Honey badger don’t care.
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This sounds like a cautionary tale. The libaries falling and their voices and songs dragged behind the orangery! Yikes. I think this is one of my favorites of yours.
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Wow!! Thank you so much!
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Alas. Those Krazy Kelts believed that only the dead spoke the truth, which is why I guess we have libraries in the first place, boneyards that tell no lies. We can only hope that our Commandante’s sword has gotten too bent spearing Big Macs to follow through with the coup de grace.
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“Commandante, can I super-size those fries?”
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The Ghosts of libraries will always be with us. Truth may not save us, the we of now, but truth survives like a dandelion. It will grow where nothing else will. Love this poem. There are way too many lines for me to chose just one. This is definitely one of my favorites among the many brilliant pieces you’ve written.
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Oh, thank you so much! And I love your more hopeful wording that truth survives like a dandelion. And MLK’s edict about the arc towards justice.
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A tour de force of incisive film noir/Graham Green ethos, R. It’s easy to fall into this space given the times. I liked the wry witticisms and the absurdist humor of the whistling-past-the-graveyard kind. Wonderful writing.
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Thank you Dora!
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