the day
is in danger of passing without wickedness
–Frank O’Hara, “Washington Square”
let’s hope tomorrow’s the day
when the substitute newscasters have nothing to say
when everybody everywhere just has fun
when nobody anywhere fires a gun
when there are ceasefires instead of attacks
when all the trains stay on their tracks
when there’s not a single canceled flight
when all the tall buildings stay upright
when even the ChatBots feel sufficiently admired
when the laid-off workers learn they’re rehired `
when the organic farmers get that needed rain
when the emergency room nurses suffer no strain
when everybody feels they belong
when nobody’s planning anything wrong
when nobody lies
when nobody dies
when everything happens as it should
except for the substitute newscasters needlessly feeling the need
to report that everything’s good
About the Poem
A hopeful fantasy that we might have a day free of the kind of chaos described in the Times article about Michigan State I have cited below.
About the Author
William Aarnes lives in New York, so he has been reading Frank O’Hara.