The number of our destruction smacked us in the face,

But too many didn’t want to see.

They liked the words they heard,

Shrinking their ever-enlarging world:

                –Where you walk is holy

   (as long as you got thousand-dollar shoes)

                –We don’t care!  Just wanna keep up with a Kardashian or two.

                –I ain’t wearin’ no mask.  Ain’t nobody gonna tell me what to do!

                –Who the hell cares if a black man can’t breathe? Cuz he shouldn’t

                   give a cop a reason to put a knee on his neck!

The seven tentacles touched us to the core

Long, long before:

                –It’s all you can eat!

                –Trade in that old husband or wife for a new, sexier model!

                –Who wants to work that hard!  Buy college scores!

                –We’re so much better than those Mexicans, Blacks, Queers, Muslims,

                 those shithole countries.

                –Drop a bomb!  Just drop the fuckin’ bomb on the bastards!

                –Doesn’t matter what happens to people.  We can make more money.

                   Who cares if they die?

We expected the beast to wear a triple 6.

Too late we learned the beast had seven tentacles,

Each whispering seductive shadows

To hide the horrors of our hearts, our souls.

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I am a retired teacher, enjoying everything that retirement means. I have been writing all my life and started a blog several years ago after my wife succumbed to ovarian cancer.  I am currently working on a collection of poetry to chronicle that journey.  In addition, I have been active in the LGBTQ community since I was four years old and marched my Ken doll with all his little Ken accouterments to the big metal trash can in the yard. Yes, I dumped Ken, along with said accouterments, into the can and slammed the lid on. My two Barbie dolls lived happily ever after.

You can read more of my writing at Hearing the Mermaids Sing