by Penelope Moffet

 

 

 

I refused to watch the State of the Union,

unwilling to give two hours of my life

to so much bloviation and lies. Usually

I think it’s wise to know my enemy but

I know this one too well. Instead

I called a friend, spent half an hour

catching up and laughing, then read and

watched an hour of  Seaside Hotel,

Season Six, 1938, Danish refuge with

its mix of guests and servants,

persistence of decorum and dignity

as, still out of focus, fascism draws near.

Penelope Moffet is a poet and nonfiction writer based in Los Angeles. She is the author of the chapbooks Cauldron of Hisses (Arroyo Seco Press, 2022), It Isn’t That They Mean to Kill You (Arroyo Seco Press, 2018) and Keeping Still (Dorland Mountain Arts, 1995). Her poems appear in many journals, including Calyx, Eclectica, ONE ART and Vox Populi. A full-length collection of her poetry will be published by Sheila-Na-Gig Editions this Fall. 

ENDANGERED

by Penelope Moffet

AI-generated image by NightCafé for The New Verse News

A large orange butterfly

flits through a break in traffic

from one side of the street

to the median, one line of

sign-holding people chanting

"No monarchs! No kings!"

to another. No, goddammit, no.

Don't be such a fucking poet.

Don't focus on the butterfly.

The handmade poster the poet will be carrying at today's march.

Penelope Moffet is the author of three chapbooks, most recently Cauldron of Hisses (Arroyo Seco Press, 2022). Her poems appear in Eclectica, ONE ART, Calyx and other literary journals. A full-length collection of her poetry will be published by Sheila-Na-Gig Editions in 2026. A Pushcart Prize nominee, she lives in Southern California.