New Poems

They pulled the paint off the rusted sign
and carved WAR in bold gold letters –
We can stop pretending, right?

No more defense of democracy in jungle heat.
No strategic interests under drone shadows.
Just WAR.

Like a drunk pissing his name in the snow
after being thrown out of McSorley's

yet again.

War’s always been there.
We just changed the font.

You can feel it in the cracked concrete,
buckling under the weight of parades
and promises no one intends to keep.

Somewhere, a kid in Texas
asks his 6th grade teacher
what courage means.

Tell him now, before they change 

the textbooks again. Tell him it's got 

nothing to do with the flag.

Sometimes the bravest thing is to say No 

to a man with a gold-plated pen 

and plans for us all to bleed.

Heil! Heil! The US Department of War!

Coming soon to a city near you…