The Task of the Gods

the people who fought over troy 
the troy buried under five later troys
and then dug up by a nineteenth century romantic
are safe enough to be dead now

even millennia ago they were safe enough
that when a poet codified their exploits
blind     to their terror and pain
that he had them all speaking the same language
his dialect    which none of them
had ever heard     and had them
all worshipping the same gods that he did

the same gods    that we toy with now
raise your hands    statues
if you still believe in zeus or aphrodite
raise your hands    or we’ll bury you again
under the roadways and apartment houses
that we’ve built over your ruins

zeus is a toy is a stand-in
for the power of the curses people thought he could make
i said zeus is a stand-in    the weather’s bad today
the guy who thinks he owns the country
is angry and insane    i feel a sinking quickening
of my pulse as i say this    but some young man
is looking for a woman who will make his heart
come alive for him    i have been that young man
he is not buried    aphrodite help him
please

from Trump Tics (2020)

What I'll Do Next (from quotes from Donald Trump)

it’s like in golf
i want this
every other cut wouldn’t
i will be a dictator the first day

a well-educated advantage
over starting off today
they have the actual educated
it’s no good    it’s for me

course i was for me
it’s like you make a poker game
it’s for me    interesting to me
it’s for me    then the odds
are much better    and your odds
sort of interesting to me

May 29, 2024

Schrodinger's Ears

my ears can’t decide whether they’re alive or dead
his voice flows out like the claw of a chair
being scraped against a blackboard
instead of being thrown at you outright
someone thinks that’s music    who’s the composer?
does this noise really count as composition?

i want to participate in conversation
i don’t need to listen to a dictator bloviating
or watch his buddies give nazi salutes
i want to listen to hear other people talk
appreciate other voices    then talk
even talk back

one live ear    one dead ear
one’s real       the other’s imaginary
can’t even hear myself whistle without hearing his voice
now now     he and his swastika buddies will take care of you
you know for real that both of your ears are alive
not even inert    the way he wants them

May 12, 2025