In today’s news, the president pulled his army’s troops from a
middle eastern country because their soldiers were always high
and didn’t fight like a terrorist takeover was imminent. So his
critics find a new way to say we’re still mad our candidate lost,
while his supporters say it’s okay to retreat from a war that’s
not ours, and those in the middle simultaneously snack on
Nutella and curse the world. Some say these are the end
times and some’s parents and entire bloodline have said that
throughout their lives and the family that incorrectly appraises
together, stays together. What we really need is a ceasefire
amongst our neighbor’s head and our other neighbor’s heart,
but we’re too bothered by the tree hanging over our fence that
keeps dropping rotten oranges into our backyard, though to
clean up your own mess implies the ability to both recognize
and respond to untidiness. We collect bodies that fall too
early, and we gather the overripe produce from the earth
and each time the sadness that sifts between our hands is
replanted in the forms of warnings we never heed. “Impeach
him!” “Re-elect him!” “Damnit if we’re not all in trouble…”
About the Poem
Left. Right. In the middle. I have parts of all of them in me, though some distinctly more than others. But above all, I have compassion for my fellow man.
About the Author
Daniel Romo is the author of Moonlighting as an Avalanche (Tebot Bach 2021), Apologies in Reverse (FutureCycle Press 2019), When Kerosene’s Involved (Mojave River Press 2014), and Romancing Gravity (Silver Birch Press 2013). His writing and photography can be found in The Los Angeles Review, PANK, The Good Men Project, Yemassee, Barrelhouse, and elsewhere. He received an MFA from Queens University of Charlotte, and he lives, teaches, and bench presses in Long Beach, CA. More at danieljromo.com.