by Benjamin Schmitt
There is
nothing in these times
that cannot be used to frighten you
puppies and kittens play with sinister intentions
there are dangerous chemicals brewing
under your very skin
There is
nothing in these times
that cannot somehow be sold to you
and yet the silence of this great Utah desert burns
money with silence, diamonds disappear
in the black ravines
There is
nothing in these times
that appears to have any real kind of value
besides this stone wall of green vines cascading
the rain falls down, sperm find their eggs,
they crack into tadpoles on the rocks
There is
nothing in these times
that cannot be twisted to benefit the few
young men go to war, Pepsi is sold in schools
to sponsor the football team while books
lack covers and immediacy
There is
nothing in these times
which should make you lose hope in you
remember the mountain we climbed, the path ended,
became sheer cliffs, it’d have been better to die,
but we decided to turn back
There is
nothing in these times
that is really different from any other time
the Crusader walks the bloodstained stones of Jerusalem
ridiculed in the dark in the Arabic of the merchants
he remembers his Germany like a rose