I CAN’T HEAR YOU

by Chad Parenteau

the chief 

of sticks

proclaimed.

Too busy

turning on

faucets

 

hoping to

sluice away

immigrants

 

back down

to Mexico. 

Water. 

 

It goes 

right down

the hole.

 

Know that

from pre-k

diarrhea.

 

Excuse me.

Listening

for cracks

 

and all of

the people

falling through.

 

Once screams

finally stop

close hole.

 

Not right now.

Reapplying 

ear stigmata.

 

Need to have

gold card to

reach in here.

 

Have these 

documents 

to soak out

 

in deep south

salted by tears

of crocodiles 

 

that are now

jealous of 

our alligators.

Chad Parenteau hosts Boston's long-running Stone Soup Poetry series. His latest collection is The Collapsed Bookshelf. His poetry has appeared in journals such as Résonancee, Molecule, Ibbetson Street, Pocket Lint, Cape Cod Poetry Review, Tell-Tale Inklings, Off The Coast, The Skinny Poetry Journal, The New Verse News, dadakuku, Nixes Mate Review and anthologies such as French Connections and Reimagine America. He serves as Associate Editor of the online journal Oddball Magazine.

ANITA BRYANT’S LAST CHRISTMAS WISH

by Chad Parenteau

The problem with wishes 

is that anyone can make them.

On her last day alive, she 

proclaims, I want the world

to become an orange, with skin

so hard nobody can access its

golden treasures by way of bit, 

blade or begging. A hard swallow.

She continues. But before that, 

a pie! I want a pie to strike 

this nation with a crust of fire

and a filling of ice. And every

child of God who ever stopped 

calling or writing their righteous

mothers will finally feel shame

we could never teach. 

A final gasp. And let my last

words before joining an eternal

choir of praise in paradise 

be a whisper in God’s ear, 

a show of appreciation and 

word of advice to His design.

With that, her soul departs so fast

it would have knocked Jesus’ 

family aside on their way to Egypt.

Then in the morning, from 

Christmas to New Year’s and

beyond, the grave dancers guild

develops restless leg syndrome,

kicking under tables and blankets,

unaware they’re missing their number.

Chad Parenteau hosts Boston’s long-running Stone Soup Poetry series. His work has appeared in journals such as Résonancee, Molecule, Ibbetson Street, Pocket Lint, Cape Cod Poetry Review, Tell-Tale Inklings, Off The Coast, The Skinny Poetry Journal, Crossroads, dadakuku, Nixes Mate Review and The Ugly Monster. He has also been published in anthologies such as French Connections, Sounds of Wind, Reimagine America, and The Vagabond Lunar Collection. His newest collections are All's Well Isn't You and Cant Republic: Erasures and Blackouts. He serves as Associate Editor of the online journal Oddball Magazine and co-organizer of the annual Boston Poetry Marathon. He lives and works in Boston.

TRUMP AI GENERATES HIS SECOND INAUGURATION

by Chad Parenteau

Holding, staring at open bible
with no words. He knew it.
God’s law is whatever you want.
 
Behind him, swiftboat Swifties
dressed in handmaiden style,
coats, blouses buttoned to nape.
 
Harem of doting daughters, 
great grab bags of grabbables, 
whole cabinet of nondisclosures.
 
Blonde broken up by added spots
of colored faces, hands in gnarled
prayer, proof they weren’t paid.
 
He swears off to imagined duties 
under a dome of glass as strong
as his faith in this divine design. 

Chad Parenteau hosts Boston's long-running Stone Soup Poetry series. His latest collection is The Collapsed Bookshelf. His poetry has appeared in journals such as Résonancee, Molecule, Ibbetson Street, Pocket Lint, Cape Cod Poetry Review, Tell-Tale Inklings, Off The Coast, The Skinny Poetry Journal, The New Verse News, dadakuku, Nixes Mate Review and anthologies such as French Connections and Reimagine America. He serves as Associate Editor of the online journal Oddball Magazine. Chad generated these AI graphics on behalf of the former guy.

WHAT THEY TRIED IN MY SMALL TOWN

by Chad Parenteau

Glenn set a car on fire.
Surprisingly stuck around 
until the police arrived. 
 
Jesse got his girl pregnant.
Denied it. His family told hers
never contact him again. 
 
Tim’s Dad shot my aunt’s cat
from his window, kept guns
Tim grabbed from drawers.
 
Brian and James tried college.
Drank their first night. Thought 
licorice would conceal breath.
 
Some trolled on Facebook when 
Trump lost, angry that our world 
was bigger than where they lived.

Chad Parenteau hosts Boston's long-running Stone Soup Poetry series. His latest collection is The Collapsed Bookshelf. His poetry has appeared in journals such as Résonancee, Molecule, Ibbetson Street, Cape Cod Poetry Review, Tell-Tale Inklings, Off The Coast, The Skinny Poetry Journal, Nixes Mate Review, and the anthology Reimagine America from Vagabond Books. He serves as Associate Editor of the online journal Oddball Magazine.

TOURIST TRAP

by Chad Parenteau

Tomb as 
self made
as the men
 
gone deep
in depths
to witness
 
largest 
mass of 
Ozymandias.
 
So close
can graze 
imagined ear
 
where new
titans whisper
never again
 
and survey
land ripe 
for conquer,
 
tell child 
bereft of 
all irony
 
someday
this will 

be yours.

Chad Parenteau hosts Boston's long-running Stone Soup Poetry series. His latest collection is The Collapsed Bookshelf. His poetry has appeared in journals such as Résonancee, Molecule, Ibbetson Street, Cape Cod Poetry Review, Tell-Tale Inklings, Off The Coast, The Skinny Poetry Journal, Nixes Mate Review, and the anthology Reimagine America from Vagabond Books. He serves as Associate Editor of the online journal Oddball Magazine.

COMING UP

by Chad Parenteau

Trump, Kanye

and a ghost

of others who

the former

President has

never seen

without sheets.

Also, Milo

Yiannopoulos

going Jews

for Jesus

slicing

Semitic bits

to trade

for bodies

of Christ.

A pride

of people

fine to be

on same side

until not.

And also,

why this

is bad for

Joe Biden.

Chad Parenteau hosts Boston's long-running Stone Soup Poetry series. His latest collection is The Collapsed Bookshelf. His poetry has appeared in journals such as Résonancee, Molecule, Ibbetson Street, Cape Cod Poetry Review, Tell-Tale Inklings, Off The Coast, The Skinny Poetry Journal, Nixes Mate Review, and the anthology Reimagine America from Vagabond Books. He serves as Associate Editor of the online journal Oddball Magazine.

ORANGE LINE SHUTDOWN, DAY ONE

by Chad Parenteau

Now comes the latest upheaval for the [Boston’s] weary commuters: a complete 30-day shutdown of the Orange Line, the area’s second most-traveled subway line, which typically provides 101,000 passenger trips a day from Boston’s southwest neighborhoods through its downtown core and into Somerville, Medford and Malden, three cities to the north. Transit officials announced the shutdown after a series of safety problems on the T, as the region’s transit system is known, including an Orange Line train that caught fire in July while on a bridge, prompting one rider to jump into the Mystic River below. —The New York Times, August 23, 2022

First of trainless

thirty days, possibly

preluding forever.

 

Slower busses

bound for Mattapan

might have chance

 

to shine, if not for

oversized shuttles

to Copley Square

 

pushing commerce

first, blocking last

gasps of commute.

 

Newspaper calls it

“Orange Crush’

because if officials

 

could tighten belts,

poke extra holes,

make new notches,

 

stretch bodies further

from city’s center,

they already would.

 

Forrest Hills remains

quiet as crematorium,

ashen holdovers already

 

gone from benches.

Nobody wants to be

left further behind.

Chad Parenteau hosts Boston's long-running Stone Soup Poetry series. His latest collection is The Collapsed Bookshelf. His poetry has appeared in journals such as Résonancee, Molecule, Ibbetson Street, Cape Cod Poetry Review, Tell-Tale Inklings, Off The Coast, The Skinny Poetry Journal, Nixes Mate Review, and the anthology Reimagine America from Vagabond Books. He serves as Associate Editor of the online journal Oddball Magazine.

AMERICAN HAIKU: NEW NORMAL IS NORMAL AGAIN

by Chad Parenteau

Chad Parenteau hosts Boston's long-running Stone Soup Poetry series. His latest collection is The Collapsed Bookshelf. His poetry has appeared in journals such as Résonancee, Molecule, Ibbetson Street, Cape Cod Poetry Review, Tell-Tale Inklings, Off The Coast, The Skinny Poetry Journal, Nixes Mate Review, and the anthology Reimagine America from Vagabond Books. He serves as Associate Editor of the online journal Oddball Magazine. His American Haiku appear every Wednesday on his blog, which can be found via the link on his website.

EVERYTHING MARJORIE MAY HAVE NEVER SAID

by Chad Parenteau

We swore an oath. Does anyone remember the oath?

Free speech is essential, whether or not we recall it.

They continue to take our freedoms away. Can anyone

tell me what those freedoms were? I don’t recollect 

putting any of those freedoms back on when my mask 

came off. Who took my mask off? I can’t remember 

everyone who voted for me, but I know everyone did, 

and the only way I can win is if everyone forgets that 

I won. Protect the integrity of elections. If this could 

happen during the time of my election, whenever that 

is, I would really appreciate it. Remember when Black 

Lives Matter and Antifa fought over who would storm 

the capitol,  or so I’m told by people I can’t recall. Political

power  comes from the barrel of a gun. Mumia Abu Jamal

said that, according to my notes. That wasn’t free speech 

when he said that. Has America proven those words 

to be true? I’ll have to get back to you if the smoke 

ever clears. There’s two schools of thought to research. 

One of them is CNN, which lies about me. The other 

is NewsMax, which uses my complete sentences

but omits everything else I’ve ever said in my life, 

which I may or may not have said. I don’t remember.

Chad Parenteau hosts Boston's long-running Stone Soup Poetry series. His poetry has appeared in journals such as Résonancee, Molecule, Ibbetson Street, Cape Cod Poetry Review, Tell-Tale Inklings, Off The Coast, The Skinny Poetry Journal, and Nixes Mate Review. He serves as Associate Editor of the online journal Oddball Magazine. His second collection, The Collapsed Bookshelf, was nominated for a Massachusetts Book Award.

SQUATTER

by Chad Parenteau

“DONALD TRUMP, UNPROMPTED, TELLS GOP DONORS HE DOESN’T LIKE HAVING WOMEN PEE ON HIM: ‘I’m not into golden showers,’ the former president blurted out to the crowd.” —Vanity Fair, October 15, 2021

First lady of her kind

stares down her man’s

new list of never woulds,

 

knows that he thinks

someone’s been lady

too long, far enough.

 

Opportunity fades.

No children are left

to shield his storm.

 

For now, she waits

by bully’s pulpit

for highest calling.

 

Standing on bed,

uncaring hands braced

on shatterproof ceiling,

 

she’ll stand over him,

open gates to nearest

heaven he can claim.

Chad Parenteau hosts Boston's long-running Stone Soup Poetry series. His work has appeared in journals such as Résonancee, Molecule, Cape Cod Poetry Review, Tell-Tale Inklings, Off The Coast, Ibbetson Street, and Wilderness House Literary Review. He is a contributor to Headline Poetry & Press and serves as Associate Editor of the online journal Oddball Magazine. His latest collection The Collapsed Bookshelf was nominated for a Massachusetts Book Award.

MELT

by Chad Parenteau

“Heat Check” by Headlines at The Nib, July 8, 2021.

If the earth

is warming

why is there

still ice?

It’s summer.

Leave affairs

to boil on

picnic table.

Why else our

country a pot

if we’re not

to pour in?

Stand ground,

plant feet

in malleable

tar roads.

Cook skin

to bronze,

be own

memorial.

Chad Parenteau hosts Boston's long-running Stone Soup Poetry series. His work has appeared in journals such as Résonancee, Molecule, Cape Cod Poetry Review, Tell-Tale Inklings, Off The Coast, Ibbetson Street, and Wilderness House Literary Review. He is a contributor to Headline Poetry & Press and serves as Associate Editor of the online journal Oddball Magazine. His latest collection The Collapsed Bookshelf was nominated for a Massachusetts Book Award.

ITEMS NOT SEIZED FROM RUDY GIULIANI'S HOME

by Chad Parenteau

Art from 1999 by Robert Lederman.

Photo of Hillary Clinton

in white pantsuit, black stripes

drawn on in marker.

 

Five laptops with “Hunter”

scratched onto each bottom.

 

FDNY firefighter axe

with ninety-eight notches.

 

Two copies of

Time Magazine’s 2001

“Person of the Year” issue.

 

One copy signed to

“Abner Lube-Me-Up,”

 

the other to “Amadou Diablo –

Now you can count to forty-one!”

 

Atlas Shrugged book, pages

blacked out, “Truth isn’t truth”

written on back cover.

 

“Adolph Giuliani”

protest poster, signed.

 

One envelope returned

to sender. Contents include:

 

additional copy of

Time Magazine’s 2001

“Person of the Year” issue,

 

“For Trump” written on cover

in gold marker.

Chad Parenteau hosts Boston's long-running Stone Soup Poetry series. His work has appeared in journals such as Résonancee, Molecule, Cape Cod Poetry Review, Tell-Tale Inklings, Off The Coast, Ibbetson Street, and Wilderness House Literary Review. He is a contributor to Headline Poetry & Press and serves as Associate Editor of the online journal Oddball Magazine. His latest collection The Collapsed Bookshelf was nominated for a Massachusetts Book Award.

LANDSCAPE WITH THE FALL OF JOE BIDEN

by Chad Parenteau

The Boston Herald says

when Joe Biden falls

it is spring

 

black farmers were rescued

but press

begged for pageantry

 

for interviews

hot breathing mouths

near

 

the edge of six feet

obsessed with

closeness

 

waiting in the sun

the children

in the camps

 

incidentally

in Georgia

there were

 

the dead Asian women

but look

Joe Biden falling

Chad Parenteau hosts Boston's long-running Stone Soup Poetry series. His work has appeared in journals such as Résonancee, Molecule, Cape Cod Poetry Review, Tell-Tale Inklings, Off The Coast, Ibbetson Street, and Wilderness House Literary Review. He is a contributor to Headline Poetry & Press and serves as Associate Editor of the online journal Oddball Magazine. His latest collection The Collapsed Bookshelf was nominated for a Massachusetts Book Award.

FAMILY VALUES LIMBO

by Chad Parenteau

Cartoon by Steve Brodner for Mother Jones, March 6, 2009.

Angry Dad is dead.

The rush is on

to see who now has

the loudest voice.

Auditions begin

at dinner table. 

Women fill glasses

from bottom to brim.

Contents spill over

on flag tablecloths.

New father figure 

finds this affront,

sets air above table

aflame, scatters dishes,

sends all to bed

without supper.

There they'll fester,

rewrite old declamation

overheard piecemeal

from fighting parents.

Chad Parenteau hosts Boston's long-running Stone Soup Poetry series. His work has appeared in journals such as Résonancee, Molecule, Cape Cod Poetry Review, Tell-Tale Inklings, Off The Coast, Ibbetson Street ,and Wilderness House Literary Review. He is a contributor to Headline Poetry & Press and serves as Associate Editor of the online journal Oddball Magazine. His second collection, The Collapsed Bookshelf, was released in 2020.