Second Coming No. 133 — June 1, 2025
A poem-a-day protest against the threat posed to our democracy by the current occupant of the White House and his regime
Paula Rudnik
Last Straw
At what point does the camel topple,
its wide flat feet unsteady over horned split toes,
triple-lidded eyes tearful in their double row of lash?
When does the beast of burden
bite the hand that cinches up the saddle
and drop back broken to its knobby knees?
Those who shrug at hot spit warnings
under-estimate how long a camel
holds a grudge.
Handlers may think a bridle and a crop,
a load of freshly baled hay,
determine who the leader is.
Even creatures who appear
to withstand thirst for weeks or even months
can’t go forever without love or water.
The straw before the straw
that breaks the creature’s back
may go unnoticed
by a single-lidded oaf
without a camel’s sense
of when enough’s enough.
Paula Rudnick is the author of Now Is Not a Good Time (independently published, 2022). Her poems have appeared in Halfway Down the Stairs, LA Jewish Journal, Poetic Medicine, Songs of Eretz Poetry Review, Kosmos Quarterly, and other journals, as well as in several anthologies. A former TV producer whose credits range from late-night rock-and-roll shows to Emmy-nominated movies, Paula lives in Los Angeles.
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
|