Poetry for April Rogue

You were great

At the slaughter
The way you shot
The women and children
And torched their straw huts
That was awesome

And you were great
In the courtroom
Getting all those families
In their hovels and shacks
To have to move
So the developers
Could take over

And you where great
Getting all those
Employees to
Hold on to
Their company stock
When all along
You were going to bankrupt it
That was genius

And you where great
When you told
The town folk
She was a witch
And they burned her
At the stake
That'll teach her

And you were great
When you found loop-holes
For the insurance company
To deny people health coverage
And raised the premiums so high
They couldn’t afford it
That was brilliant

And you were great
Making your case to congress
That dropping atom bombs
That would kill hundreds of thousands
Of innocent people
Would actually save lives
Your logic was infallible

And you were great
In the gang beat down
When you kicked
The unconscious man
In the head
How courageous

And you were great
When you deregulated
The airlines, the energy companies
Closed the mental hospitals
And gave tax cuts for the rich
that’s winning one
For the Gipper

And you were great
In the slave trade
The way you packed em in
Like sardines
And breed em like cattle
And whipped em
And hung em
If they got
Out of line
You’re a real humanitarian

And you were great
When you rounded up the Jews
And shoved them into ovens
Wow you made
Lampshades out of their skin
And soap
How practical
Hey you almost
Ruled the world

And you were great
When you strapped
On the bomb
And blew up yourself
And the people on the bus
You’re a true martyr
Hope you’re enjoying
The virgins

—David Ochs

falling apart...

i can feel myself
falling apart

crashing

through the limbs of an old tree,
falling

falling

branches breaking...

snapping

twigs flying, and birds
lots of birds

calling

as they dart
through

the spaces
inside of me.

—Ibrahim Ahmed