Second Coming No. 41D — March 1, 2025
Part of a SPECIAL EDITION of several poems over the course of today in solidarity with President Zelensky and the people of Ukraine
Annie Bien THIS IS GONNA MAKE GREAT TELEVISION or the Broken Megaphone SAY THANK YOU SAY THANK YOU HE DOESN’T HAVE THE CARDS Why don’t you wear a suit? Why do you come here dressed like that? YOU ARE DISRESPECTFUL BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T SAY THANK YOU there’s a line in a lifeline that favors truth amidst lies that lies dormant in the liars and though it is not immediate the impact of the subsequent karmic reaction of lie after lie burns into the future, cruelty comes as care only for a self that is made by layer after layer of prevarications MAKE A DEAL OR YOU’RE OUT SAY THANK YOU YOU DON’T KNOW HOW TO PLAY CARDS SAY THANK YOU At night one pair of eyes squeeze shut but not shut, a mind filled with molten unfinished sentences—constantly step on another, thoughts to unlisten—no one no one talks to me that way because I’m great I’m great—I’m great I’m great—I’m great I’m great—I’m a king a king Another pair of eyes, hears air raid sirens, people silenced, buildings collapse, a refrain from the lies, thrown out from room with flags and press publicly shamed, but his stride more noble than the suited men in overly long red and blue flapping ties. An owl stares from a branch unblinking: доброї ночі доброї ночі друзі доброї ночі вороги доброї ночі на один день, коли ми помремо Я не буду шкодувати, але щодо вас, навіть якби ви це зробили, це було б брехнею. good night good night friends good night enemies good night for one day when we die I won't regret it, but for you, even if you did, it would be a lie.
Annie Bien is the author of the poetry collections Under Shadows of Stars (Kelsay Books, 2017) and Plateau Migration (Alabaster Leaves Press, 2012). Her story Earthen Sky won the London Independent Story Prize for flash fiction (2020). Bien’s translations of Tibetan Buddhist texts appear in the digital repository 8400. Her poetry and flash fiction have appeared in The Wild Word, The Banyan Review, MockingHeart Review, WordCityLit, Autumn Sky Poetry, and other journals. She lives in Brooklyn where she teaches meditation and qigong.
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.
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