Signs of the end of the world
are bloody moons at noon, bleach
blondes who pop
gum, talk back to mommy, forget
to paint their Easter eggs by hand,
mechanization marches inexorable
to steel-glass pitiless sword-bearing
angels: clockwork sparrows migrate
at the wrong time--
clog up the sky, dark sun shines
through their tangles,
an animator's mistake, shines
down on Russia like we're the same:
the President makes enemies
into friends, the President talks about
The End of the World
like it was a reset button
like playing Super Mario
with your little sister's life.
published in Windfall, Truman State University literary magazine (2002)