or HANDS OFF MY SHOWERHEAD
 |
President Trump, who has waged a long-running battle against low water pressure, signed an executive order that redefined a common bathroom fixture. —The New York Times, April 10, 2025 |
by Ann Weil
after Louise Glück’s “October (section I)”
Is it Spring again, is it green again,
aren’t we a field of four-leaf clover,
aren’t we coming up posies,
weren't we promised,
aren’t we deserving,
aren’t we special,
wasn’t he strong,
tougher than bullets,
didn’t he vow a phoenix nation,
to clean the shop
of waste and scum,
isn’t he bold, isn’t he clever, not telling
the half of his plans
for ’25—
I remember our weakness, our shameful
kindness, our brotherly love, our lead-by-example,
didn’t those values drag us down,
drown us in our Gulf of America,
I can’t remember
which government bloat
I’m supposed to hate more—
park rangers or cancer researchers,
I no longer care
about clean air and healthcare,
but, man, those egg prices
keep me up at night—
who needs allies, free-trade, or 401Ks,
who needs hurricane warnings
or Judy Blume books,
down with DEI, up with ICE,
when was I young there were no illegals,
no signs in Spanish, my grandparents spoke
only English, swept their Yiddish
under the rug,
when did the taco trucks takeover
and bubble-tea shops spread like a rash,
when did a skirt
give a guy a free pass
to the ladies room—
a scourge more worrisome
than measly measles,
I blame the Fathers’ faulty foundation—
the Constitution’s lunatic creed,
didn’t we thrive without due process,
without free-speech and fair elections,
wasn’t it great
when we were subjects
subject to
the whims of a king,
didn’t so-called progress
lead us to this towering cliff,
aren’t we jumping, won’t we bounce,
bounce back better like he said,
yes, we’re jumping,
isn’t it Spring?
Yes, it’s Spring, 2025.
Ann Weil is the author of Lifecycle of a Beautiful Woman (Yellow Arrow Publishing, 2023) and Blue Dog Road Trip (Gnashing Teeth Publishing, 2024). Her poetry appears or is forthcoming in Best New Poets 2024, Pedestal Magazine, RHINO, Chestnut Review, DMQ Review, Maudlin House, 3Elements Review, and elsewhere. A four-time Pushcart nominee, Weil lives with her husband in Ann Arbor, MI, and Key West, FL.
