by Michael Shorb
This must be what grover
norquist meant by drowning
the baby of government
in a bathtub of course
we want police and military
let’s not get carried away
a few clerks and congressmen
to ratify useful measures
but government’ll hafta
sell its children down
the mississippi
no more nurse and midwife
generous uncle launching
second chances
welcome to a world
illuminated by darwin’s lightning
you slip on the jungle floor
you die right there
in the shade of endless war
where your competitors,
ants and millionaires, await.
Michael Shorb's work reflects an abiding interest in myth, history, and the lyrical form, as well as a satirical focus on present day trends and events. His poems have appeared in over 100 magazines and anthologies, including The Nation, The Sun, Michigan Quarterly Review, Queen's Quarterly, Poetry Salzburg Review, Commonweal, Religious Humanism, Shoofly, Rattle, and European Judaism, as well as such anthologies as A Bell Ringing in an Empty Sky (Mho and Mho Works), To Be a Man (Tarcher Press) and Names in a Jar: 100 American Poets (Hood Press).
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