Second Coming No. 103 — May 2, 2025
A poem-a-day protest against the threat posed to our democracy by the current occupant of the White House
Emily Pera
Nothing But Money
In the world of dark money,
you get walloped.
You never see it coming.
They’ve got names that sound
like charities,
like Sunday school lessons,
like patriotism with a flag lapel pin.
But no one knows
who sent the check.
I’ll tell you a story
about money.
Down in Texas,
I saw a bumper sticker once:
“I’ll believe corporations are citizens
when Texas executes one.”
That’s apropos of nothing—
except everything.
Dark money moves
like a smuggler in the night.
No trail, no witness,
no one accountable.
It’s like how they ship people
across borders,
undocumented,
undisclosed,
quiet as freight.
One minute you’re here,
then you’re gone—
detained, deported,
dropped into a jail
you didn’t know existed
in a country you’ve never been.
That’s how money moves too:
in planes and shells,
in cutouts and clever paperwork,
in silence so thick
you’d think justice choked on it.
The disclosure process?
It’s a joke.
A campaign finance lawyer’s
full employment act.
Because in America,
truth costs more
than most people make in a year.
And the silence?
That’s paid for, too.
Emily Pera‘s poems have appeared in Tuck Magazine, Litro, Dissident Voice, A3 Review, Scout & Birdie, and other journals. A native of Chicago, she lives in Providence, Rhode Island.
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.
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