The Importance of Anti Oxidants

The dog shakes uncontrollably

when he sees the baby my wife cares for.

Only few years past early motherhood,

my wife loves the baby.

I worry about myself, only caring about

the $800 a month

invisibly stapled to the kid’s forehead,

or the protection of my silence,

and maybe the death

which will soon stick to fingers

like guilty blisters

that I press against granite typewriter keys.

George W. sees dead Iraqis as votes.

Pellets from smartbombs must

make constipating cereal

for little stomachs not accustomed to solid food.

I can never eat or sleep

before my first day in front of a class.

Republicans believe professors are drains

on the economy.

What use are professor poets

who don’t even teach poetry?

What use are dead Iraqis?

We might not needs smoking guns

but must need smoking bodies.

It amazes me how some folks smoke cigarettes

but drink green tea and take vitamins.

The press estimates thirty thousand marched

in Washington against the war.

Nearly five million watched the playoffs.

Why does my dog shake when he sees the baby?

Why did my retirement fund tank?

Why are there the miniature dead

floating on the surface of my tea?

by Rich Furman