John-Ward Leighton

TODAY

paradise is only a
coffee, a bagel and cream cheese
with marmalade
away

time to put on my shirt and pants
instead of shivering here in my gaunch
I’ve already surfed the world
and asked myself the question

Is there anyone out there
and now in my orange hoodie
and sweat pants
I peek though my blinds

received two e mails
from dead men’s web sites
Lowie dead now four years
and Joe going on two years

one who lived a long life
doing what he loved
and one who became
the articulate voice for us white trash

the kids that occupy wall street
bemoan the death of the middle class
to become working class heroes
or the homeless

people who have become
sick and tired
of being sick
and tired

road kill, collateral damage
in the class warfare
that until now
they didn’t know they were in

the politicians and the mainstream media
those well paid scarecrows
in the endless fields
of greed

mouth platitudes of eloquence
to run in the endless charade
of elections
as if the elections themselves
were some kind of democracy

ensuring the ascendance
of the one percent
at the expense
of the rest

as Gandhi said
first they ridicule you
then they seek to terrorize you
then you win

time for another coffee
and bagel
because there is no way to improve on
today