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AI-generated graphic by NightCafé for The New Verse News. |
Crossing the Rainbow Bridge to Canada,
it’s a bumpy ride over the dry Niagara,
only a trickle of red from the wound below,
flags flying overhead, the Maple Leaf
at half mast on one side, twin U.S. banners
on the other: Stars and Stripes, and the McDonald’s
Arch redacted to add the eight stolen
Venezuelan stars in cheap gold leaf
from Home Depot.
And the quickly setting sun:
a leering orange troll with an oily glow
screaming like nails on a virtual chalkboard,
“GREENLAND UBER ALLES!”
Author’s Note: This poem evolved from the logic of a dream. Like others whose sleep has been disrupted by the Venezuelan violation, I found sleep subconsciously interpreting the ruptures being perpetrated against our allies. Thus the wound at the border with our northern neighbors, the flag of economic imperialism now adding the Venezuelan arch of eight stars, the threats against Greenland. The leering orange troll that keeps torching the bridges to our allies with inflammatory midnight texts will be recognized worldwide. The one hope: that that doomed sun is setting.
Richard Collins, abbot of the New Orleans Zen Temple, lives in Sewanee, Tennessee. His books include In Search of the Hermaphrodite (Tough Poets Press, 2024), and Stone Nest (Shanti Arts, 2025). His forthcoming book of poetry, Cartoons for the Chaos (Shanti Arts) contains his political poem, "November 2024," which was published in Clockhouse and nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
