Second Coming No. 102 — May 1, 2025
A poem-a-day protest against the threat posed to our democracy by the current occupant of the White House
Kathryn D. Temple
A lawyer enters reading Kafka
an insect on his back stirs
his legs, calls for a cup of tea
a woman undresses in the corner, taunting,
she has an artificial voice and power
eyes behind every curtain shine like
stage lights, retinal scanning, they burn holes
in a closet, men scream like girls,
silent detectives hold horsewhips and stare
the court seems like a theater, he pleads for his life,
the politicians are actors, he has seen them before
a judge opens a gate, the sign says LAW, enter
here for what we call justice, ice blocks his way,
while someone spews, all insects are alike,
damn them, again, he calls for a cup of tea
To die like a cockroach, it was as if the shame of it must outlive him.
Kathryn D. Temple is an English professor at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Her poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction have appeared in Streetlight, Metaworker, The Examined Life, Delmarva Review, and 3Elements, and others journals. She is the author of two academic books on law and emotions and many academic journal articles.
Indolent Books and editor Michael Broder are back with another poem-a-day series as a creative response to the threat posed to our democracy by the current occupant of the White House. The plan is to continue for all 1460 days of the 47th American presidency.
Find out how to submit poems or flash prose pieces to Second Coming.
If you like Second Coming and you want to support it, consider making a donation to Indolent Arts, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit fiscal sponsor of Indolent Books.
Second Coming is a section of Beachcomber Mike. To unsubscribe from a section:
1. Navigate to your account Settings page via www.substack.com/settingsand click on the publication you want to make changes to.
2. Slide the toggle next to each section you'd like to stop receiving emails or app notifications from. A gray toggle indicates that notifications will be off for that section.
 | A guest post by
|