by Laurence Musgrove
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Cartoon by Tjeerd Royaards at Bluesky |
The weather in our leader’s hot mind
set off sirens late in our beds last night
so we got dressed and gathered our dog
and walked downstairs with our neighbors
and climbed into our cars in the parking garage
and then watched on our little phone screens
the waves of his anger, delusion, and greed,
blowing blame across our frightened land.
set off sirens late in our beds last night
so we got dressed and gathered our dog
and walked downstairs with our neighbors
and climbed into our cars in the parking garage
and then watched on our little phone screens
the waves of his anger, delusion, and greed,
blowing blame across our frightened land.
This morning, my dog and I scout the damage,
the trash hanging in trees, wrapped around
sign posts, the early iron sky, horizon of dust,
stiff wind still whistling, dim puddles to jump,
and my little phone screen says to expect
more storms from our leader overnight,
colder temperatures, then unwelcome snow.
Each day it’s harder to predict the weather here.
Laurence Musgrove is the author of four poetry volumes: Local Bird (2015), The Bluebonnet Sutras (2019), A Stranger's Heart (2023), and The Dogs Of Alishan And Other Poems From Taiwan (2025). He is also editor of The Senior Class: 100 Poets On Aging (2024) and the online poetry journal Texas Poetry Assignment.
