Wednesday, February 2, 2022

COUNTERFEIT

Some say—
in words as consistent 

and natural 
as rain—
the best defense

is to let ourselves get 
used to this;

they wonder innocently to themselves 
out-loud 
in front of cameras 

just how catastrophic
the ordinary could be; 

but most important, 
when they speak, 
they speak softly 

and repeat themselves 
often, 

in a sturdy yet moving 
counterfeit 
of poetry, 

in order to soak up 
the silence which has broken out

and dilute 
the genuine virulence 
of our doubt.