Edified
A Poem
Releasing erudition like a smokestack
coming to rest on emulsified air
trying to restore dead religion
words that keep crumbling in front of you
The narcissism of the day
a plague on questioning houses
tried to demonstrate some solidarity
but there was no one at the protest
Even the masks don’t keep you quiet
kept from the sorrow of people you love
The losers go on counting the winnings
in abstract dollar amounts
concealing the fatal crack in the ceiling
the dropping of texture around your crib
Conceding nothing but aftermath
this collision riles up the reasons buried
in catastrophic arguments
A relief in the pitcher of beer
should stand stark on the horizon
while wine goes on collecting
Some fetishes keep you still
keep you knocking on strange doors
while you look for whatever it was
you kept underneath the bed
Pulling out the agony for edification
you’ve highlighted only the pain
and I worry
that I won’t be understanding that, either
J.D. Harms 2020
