Holiday

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.

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