Before the Cataclysm

They say when god closes a door  the shooter will fire through the door’s  windows.   "The girl calls again and watches the door and covers herself in her dead friend’s blood and this is how the door between heaven and hell cracks open." “Uvalde Shooting Highlights Role of Doors in Security Plans” Deborah Paredez —AP News headline The teacher remembers pulling the door closed. She thought the door would lock because that door is always supposed to lock. The door failed to lock. They say when god closes a door the shooter will fire through the door’s windows. At first they said she left the door open and the shooter got through the door. She remembers she had opened the door to carry in supplies, propping the door open with a rock. But she closed the door when she heard the shooter just outside the doors. I ran back into the building. I still had the rock in the door. So—I opened the door— kicked the rock—and then locked the door. Later, they verified she had closed the do...

Thought this poem provided interesting vague references to "our times" and employed a compelling use of language. There were interesting sentences and confabulations that make it worth reposting. Saturnine Patricia Spears Jones for Karen Taylor We cannot feel microbes in the palms of our hands or hear nanoseconds—we can see the laser slice wind. But  how it shaves beards remains mysterious. This talk of science & biologicals & viral crowns   make old mean men crawl into bowls of cotton  waiting to be plucked at some point by cadaver slaves humming Tin Pan Alley tunes.   What’s a pandemic but one more mortality wake up call. Tongue dulled by wine salted and cabbage stews happily forgotten. Buffed shoes shining, not worn. No more the perfect Windsor Knot because the definition for knot has swerved from necks to bandages. If ever we could color the subatomic particles and smash them up would they look like a Ken Tisa  Quarantine Drawing —how that...