By Nicole Babich
On Beowulf
“Suche fantasies ben in myn hede
So I noot what is best to do.”
A man with a gun shoots children at an elementary school
Men with a bomb attack a marathon too.
The head of the IRS is being investigated
The Benganzi attacks may have been premeditated
All of these issues haunt my brain
I see in the world so much pain
My dog has been put down
Because of the world I feel guilty for having my own frown
Sometimes I feel like I just can’t go on
The stress and the anxiety on me fall upon
How can I have my own worries
When the world is going all topsy turvy
I haven’t been shot at, been bombed, been attacked
But I feel the pressure breaking my back
I can’t fix it all but I always try
I pray and I pray but the people still cry
I send condolences to my friend whose baby is dead
But then a tornado roars straight ahead
I cannot accept the pain and the unfairness
What happened to all the love and the sweetness?
These are the thoughts that keep me awake
They make me shiver; they make me shake
How can I live in a world with no light?
I ponder these things each day and night
Strange fantasies have been in my head
Would it be better if I gave up instead?
Could I stop trying and hoping for the world to be a better place?
Defeat is a measure I don’t want to face
Like this author I ponder and pine
For a time when I stop worrying about grief, the world’s and mine
[See April 5’s posting for a brief statement about Nicole Babich.]
* * * * * * * * * *
“Carrion
On”
By
David RogersVulture infidels Eight
In sun-burned waste of palmetto and live oak;
I pause to watch a dark ceremony
Under pillars of latent thunder.
A Brahman calf
Torn fresh That chest
Still weighing the first breaths of life,
Now a font for visceral stew.
Beaks of seven scythes perched on
Raw necks glisten in gorging,
When one broad cowl rises,
A bald eagle at Cocytus.
Bloodied crown and white collar
Amid the dancing jackals,
I hold a long frozen breath
And drop a traitor Single shot.
[David Rogers is an adjunct instructor of English.]
