DEAR MAGAS

by Anita S. Pulier

Republicans Target Social Sciences to Curb Ideas They Don’t Like: Conservatives in Florida have moved from explosive politics to subtler tactics to uproot liberal “indoctrination” in higher education by removing classes like Sociology from core requirements.

—The New York Times, November 21, 2024.

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

—William Shakespeare, Hamlet

What’s missing is the welcome,
the worry, the asking, the hesitation
to inflict irreparable damage.

What’s missing is the listening,
the hearing, the ingesting
the Other’s story.

What’s missing is the raised eyebrow,
the rejection of weaponized prayer
fueled by hate and anger.

What’s missing is the nod
to Earth’s feverish future,
the grief of broken promises.

What’s missing is an apology,
the agonized regret,
the elasticity of empathy.

What’s missing is vulnerability,
the failure to fear a charred
barren planet.

What’s missing is the poetry.
Every atom belonging to me
as good belongs to you.*

Oh yes, and joy.
Joy is missing.

*Walt Whitman “Song of Myself”

Anita S. Pulier’s chapbooks Perfect Diet, The Lovely Mundane and Sounds of Morning and her books The Butchers Diamond and Toast were published by Finishing Line Press.  Paradise Reexamined came out in 2023 (Kelsay Books). Her new book Leaving Brooklyn is due out in Jan '25 from Kelsay Books. Anita’s poems have appeared in many journals and her work is included in many print anthologies. Anita has been a featured poet on The Writer's Almanac and Cultural Daily.