Rage by Paul Smith

RAGE

Whoever warned us not to

‘go gently into the night’

never went there himself

so he doesn’t know

what the night is full of

The night is full of shenanigans

and blasphemers

blaspheming the light

and worshipping what they cannot see

The night is full of real estate agents

who press you to sign something

full of clauses, sub-clauses, apostrophes

indented paragraphs

and the rights of first refusal

The night is full of aldermen

talking sideways about

our mutual benefit

our common wheel

and a brotherhood of something

available only to other aldermen

precinct captains

weed inspectors of Jefferson Parish

the Department of Public Works

Yea, though the voice of resistance

urges me to withstand

the quicksand in the gloom

I would

If fate intervened

sidestep the shadows or resist

but the landlord

the aldermen

the Commissioner of Tenants and pup tents

the Postmaster General

all grin at me

like I’m a parcel mailed from

a zip code that no longer exists