POETRY

These are the Times for Poets

A free-verse poem

Artwork by Janaka Stagnaro

These are the times for poets
their words footsteps upon the ashen land
their pens making the weight
a little lighter
the bodybags
loaded in freezer trucks

This is a time of living
on a battlefield
eating cereal
and drinking chocolate milk
while the waters rise
the glaciers melt
and the clouds disappear

This is the time of writing love songs
upon the streets
of polarized lampposts
and wrong-way traffic cops
of politicians
deaf to the beat music
that groans like lovers
to be heard in the dark

No
do not decry these days
that force you
from your padded thoughts
your brother and sisters
are your ink
for you to write a newly ancient verse
long-buried
in humanity’s future dreams