Second Coming No. 58 — March 18, 2025

A poem-a-day protest against the threat posed to our democracy by the current occupant of the White House

Annie Bien
Undaunted

Downpours roil cliffside,
mudslides of thought excrement
burst as waterfalls.

A match sparks in flame,
stench of saliva spat sweat,
skin pores reeking sweat.

Mute wheezy voice, flesh
pores enlarged, inside each hole:
Spoiled old man ego.

See this illusion
created on boundless lies.
Keep your mind open.

This ocean of suffering
can be sailed, watch the star paths.
Moonglows are phases:

In full moon we see
The forks and roads to travel,
In new moon we move.

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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.

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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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Find out how to submit poems or flash prose pieces to Second Coming.

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