THE BRAIN RESPONDS TO THE FIREHOSE OF SH*T

by Kay White Drew

AI-generated graphic by Shutterstock for The New Verse News.

Pounded from all directions
by edicts of spite and hate,
words and acts of cruelty
and stupidity, the amygdala,
fear’s hangout in the brain, grovels
on the unstable ground of shifting
demands, screaming for mercy:
I’ll do whatever you want! Just
please make it stop! Meanwhile,
the cerebral cortex, where reason
and discernment reside, frowns
in puzzlement, tries to ask
the relevant question: what
course of action might be
best in these circumstances?
but cannot get a word in edgewise.

Kay White Drew is a retired physician whose poems appear in Bay to Ocean Journal, Pen in Hand, Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine, Gargoyle, and New Verse News. She’s also published short stories and several essays, one of which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and a memoir, Stress Test. She lives in Rockville, MD with her husband.

DONALD

by Nan Ottenritter

occupies too much real estate in our heads.

T***p/Pence billboards line our neural highways.

T***p towers pierce our amygdalas, blunting

our love of country, collective compassion.

 

His necrotic amygdala somehow lives on in his head

while our neurotransmitters careen around curves and

our collective blood pressure soars out of control.

Reality’s glare sears through dilated pupils.

 

Our cognitive brains reflect upon where to flee

while, oversaturated with cocktails of our own adrenalin

and miracles of modern chemistry, we continue to fight.

A contribution here, a conversation there; an

 

early ballot here, a court victory there.

The rule of law, shattered, lies at the side of the road.

My American soul runs to the scene, screeches to a halt,

and finds herself saying, yet again:

 

“I can’t wait for this to be over.”  

Nan Ottenritter is a poet and musician who lives in Richmond, VA.