JOHNMICHAEL SIMON POETRY

We’re going to have a good time before we go

                          aren’t we auntie?

They’re bringing tanks into the road now

                          overhead a helicopter chatters lead

Maybe we can juggle or play snakes and ladders auntie

                         I’d like that

Eat the last spoonfuls of spaghetti from that moldy tub

                         blackish green since the electricity died

 

We’re going to have a good time auntie pretend we’re emigrants

                         clutching fake id’s, a small suitcase

Crowded into a rotting boatload of other poor families

                         yes auntie we will roll away with hymns

Sail away to treasure island streets paved with toffee

                         stuffed animals inside our clockwork box

Overhead steel choppers chatter sounds of burning aviation fuel

                         back there streets emptying now

 

Rubble of broken buildings crumbled like a heap of mournful notes

                         dark adagios

Let’s play ring a roses, hopscotch auntie over mounds of rubble

                         toppled door frames

I’m so hungry thirsty and my clothes are soiled and torn

                         let’s play auntie

Even though it’s getting dark here and I’m frightened

                         let’s play another, one last game

 

You’re NOT my auntie?!