“Venturing closer, / his talon was raised to attack Beowulf / where he lay on the bed; he was bearing in / with open claw when the alert hero’s / comeback and armlock forestalled him utterly.”
It's been a year of someone trying to make us great... again? How about a new year where we cast off the glinting chainmail and re-examine the words “hero” and “human.” Right here. Right now. Always.
Send us your heroes, your humans. We're here for them all.
2
After the election
Skeleton sits in the corner
counts: metacarpals, tibia
locates: coccyx, humerus
expects to expect: muscle, fat
and sweet
foul
drip
then restock reload skull, cage
think whetstone? blade?
1
Congress is in Session
When baboons bang their chests
We produce chimps to gorillas;
The congress, of debate dies
In favor of the smoke show, the banging of the drum,
the oohs and ahhs, the grunts and groans,
the elaborate mating rituals developed
By dying apes to retain
Power in their stance that has mud, shit, and fellow spider monkeys shoveling the muck as it spews out as fast as;
The grunts come out, elegantly until it's over
When we see the true side of primates
As they lead the charge we let them lead
And like lead in our paws we will be weighed down
Until a flood comes and we have no choice but
To let go;
Until the waters rushing around our nostrils we
Will inevitably fall back into the same swamp
Until we can no longer see.
Until then,
Let the baboons rise
For congress needs to hold true
To it's name.
1 - Daniel Leiser
2 - Ellen Santasiero, Art & Poem
