CORRESPONDENTS’ DINNER VILLANELLE

by Erin Murphy

Cartoon by Clay Jones

Our first thought: the shots were staged,

erasing the day’s news and memes.

Flip the script, turn the page.

 

Distract from wars, inflation, climate change,

grift, dementia, les dossiers d’Epstein.

Our first thought: the shots were staged.

 

Keep the masses entertained.

Let them eat vape and binge TV.

Flip the script, turn the page.

 

In late-stage cannibalism, feed rage

into the insatiable bigotry machine.

Our first thought: the shots were staged.

 

What matters not is how it plays

in real life but on the screen.

Flip the script, turn the page.

 

Humans caged, history razed.

All the world’s a crime scene.

Our first thought: the shots were staged.

Flip off the script, burn the page.

Erin Murphy's most recent books are Human Resources, Mother as Conjunction: Lyric Essays, and Fluent in Blue, winner of the 2025 American Book Fest Best Book Award in Poetry. Swoon: New and Selected Poems is forthcoming in June.

STAGGERING LOVE

by Jeffrey Cyphers Wright

Cave drawing (Lascaux Caves, Montignac, France)

How cheap is blood, it runs in the streets
How naked is aggression        
Selling its garments to buy a weapon
How high is the high ground
When the flood is a sea of faces
When a sandstorm fills the sandbox
How shall we all get along
Relics of the bone codex
The days grow shorter, while night
Grows a long beard
We are all “bull” fighters now
Prisoners of staged danger
Don’t point the finger at a neighbor
Slay all the dragons with staggering love


Jeffrey Cyphers Wright is a poet, artist, critic, eco-activist, impresario and publisher. He initially studied with Ted Berrigan and Alice Notley at The Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church, where he also served on the Board of Directors. He then received an MFA in Poetry after studying with Allen Ginsberg. From 1987 to 2000 he ran Cover Magazine, the Underground National. He’s currently the art editor of Boog City and for many years was poetry reviewer for The Brooklyn Rail. In 2014 he won Theater for the New City’s poetry contest. His 13th book, Party Everywhere, is out from Xanadu. Wright currently writes criticism for White Hot Magazine and ArtNexus. He also produces his own art and poetry showcase called Live Mag!