POLITICAL THEATER

by Jim Kelly

Cartoon by Gary. A Huck

When death darkens
the occupied space
of the political theater,

and the curtains,
somber and heavy,
are stitched with memories
of acid speech,

the audience pauses.

Not because the performance
was noble.

Not because every act
deserves applause.

Not because every wound
has healed.

The record remains.

The speeches remain.

The injuries,
the divisions,
the grievances,
remain.

Yet death changes
the lighting.

For a moment,

The spotlight shifts
from ideology
to mortality.

From victory
to loss.

From power
to the frailty
shared by every human being.

There will be time
for historians
to sort through the record.

There will be time
for critics
to weigh the consequences.

There will be time
for citizens
to debate the legacy.

But in the first shadow
cast by death,

when kindness is impossible,

Silence may be
the most humane response.

Not surrender.

Not agreement.

Not absolution.

Only the recognition
that death
has already spoken
the final line.

Jim Kelly is a California poet whose work explores democracy, race, caregiving, and social justice. His poetry has appeared in Litro Magazine, Urban Pen Magazine, Urban Poems, and other literary publications. He is the author of the chapbooks The Quiet Witness: Civic Poems of Power, Memory, and Conscience and Caregiving Through Poetry.

A STEPH CURRY HAIKU

Photo: Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry celebrates after breaking surpassing Ray Allen's NBA record for most career three-pointers. (Mary Altaffer/AP via The Washington Post)


A poet of several styles, Earl Wilcox find the art of haiku poetry fulfills special needs for sports moments.

 

MANMADE

 by Paul Smith

In Chicago, 558 people have been killed this year. That is 158 more than 2019. (Data and graphic through Tuesday, September 22 from Chicago Tribune)

We like to think

we are safe up here

away from the rising waters

to our south

when the winds blow really hard

and the seas get angry

we watch our brothers and sisters perish

on the news

glad we’re not among them

and far to the west

where our mountains meet the sea

fires burn out of control

houses blaze till they are skeletons

our brothers and sisters

suffocate and go up in smoke

whatever twinge of sympathy ignites in us

is escorted by the comfort provided by

the distance of a thousand miles

but something else new is going on

almost a natural phenomenon

that excites all our senses

here in Englewood and Austin

bright flashes in the brown light of evening

the smell of gunpowder

the sharp crack of weaponry

the wail of raging sirens

the chill of flesh going limp

without a pulse

mothers cry

brothers and sisters

get strapped to gurneys

so ongoing and constant

it makes you think of the Devonian

the Pleistocene

the Reconstruction

Paul Smith is a civil engineer who has worked in the construction racket for many years. He has traveled all over the place and met lots of people. Some have enriched his life. Others made him wish he or they were all dead. He likes writing poetry and fiction. He also likes Newcastle Brown Ale. If you see him, buy him one. His poetry and fiction have been published in Convergence, Packingtown Review, Literary Orphans, TheNewVerse.News, and other lit mags.

THE ANTARCTICA BEAUTY PAGEANT

by Christopher Woods

Temperature in Antarctica soars to near 70 degrees, appearing to topple continental record set days earlier. —Headline in The Washington Post, February 14, 2020


Has fewer contestants this year.
Girls from every continent once competed
Before the heat became too intense.
No more bikini strut, wet tee shirt parade.
Now just a few stagger about in a white furnace
Where the fevered winds that killed the penguins
Blow incessantly across the bones of elephant seals.

Christopher Woods is a writer and photographer who lives in Chappell Hill, Texas. He has published the novel The Dream Patch, the prose collection Under A Riverbed Sky, and a book of stage monologues for actors, Heart Speak. His photographs can be seen in his gallery. His photography prompt book for writers From Vision To Text is forthcoming from Propertius Press.