DEFAULT

INAUGURAL DEFAULT
© Don Brennan

default
back to where we couldn’t
get away fast enough

default
the rich stand on our necks

on one another’s shoulders
better to view their carnage

reach like dead people to
dance in one another’s

arms at inaugural balls
cuffs rolled
gowns hiked up

out of the sanguinary mess
at their feet

default
couldn’t get away

default
too slow



GAZA NEW YEAR FESTIVAL
©Don Brennan

military theory has indicated
you can take more accurate
aim on the ground and kill
more children in the streets
with bullet spray than canon
fire and also the troops are
getting restless, hungry for
the close up taste of blood,
want to hear the pain in outcry,
see death’s dread in maternal
eyes, collect souvenirs, after
all it’s only fair to let the bully
boys have a little fun, they’ve
been patient and conscientious
for days and days of bombing,
shelling, of having to satisfy
blood lust with cries in the
distance, it’s time to see, taste,
touch and smell, rape some girls
and boys, take a few scalps.



LI PO: from HIS DREAM OF HEAVEN (SKYLAND): 755 CE

…So with all pleasures of life.
All things pass with the east-flowing water.
I leave you and go—when shall I return?
Let the white roe feed at will among the green crags,
Let me ride and visit the lovely mountains!
How can I stoop obsequiously and serve the mighty ones!
It stifles my soul.