PHILLIP MATTHEW ROBERTS

PHILLIP MATTHEW ROBERTS

IMPROMPTU RESPONSES TO ALL THE RECENT VIOLENCE

Chuck my television out the window

in lieu of my person… done

with news and glorified emptiness,

the gritty senseless bloodshed I'm helpless

to remedy… even Archimedes himself

in all his enlightened ingenuity

couldn't find a fulcrum

great enough to maneuver

this manmade maelstrom

as everyone knows hopelessness

lacks any mass; as if to suggest,

move nothing from A to B

or quantify love?

I've sufficient reminders of horror

each day when I brave mirrors

that paint all my ghastly lack

and apparent failures…

Blame no one except myself

because I've spunk enough

to take responsibility for what I cannot

with yarbles yet so I may attempt

every remaining can

before my doldrum days end,

returned to the solemn

earth where I'll gnash

and rage no more

at my own reflection.

Phillip Matthew Roberts

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA