Subject matter always proves a problem

The leaf on the stem of one apple in the masked-up produce department
Reminds the shopper that a world of Nature persists somewhere
But wait agriculture isn’t nature
Agriculture is almost the opposite of Nature
Apples come from grafts not from seeds
And new breeds like that one that was unusually sweet and tart and crisp
And juicy
None of that was what’s the word
That means something better than random or accidental

Or that title that accompanied that melody from that song
That turned out not to have the word glory in it
And now the melody itself is gone
Obscured by the palimpsestuous glory

And you rack your brain for that super-famous comedian
Who got no respect but ironically received respectful praise
From a younger comic now well into middle age
Whose name also does not leap immediately to mind

The old war horses they’re easy to remember
In the old movies still shown sometimes the TV shows of childhood
But they were lame when they were alive
And the younger generation carving out new territory on the frontier of banality
No I want it to be a participle
New special effects to festoon the same old old shit

A crank a cranky old crank

Attention deficit grown to an attention bankruptcy

Here’s where you add the redemptive peroration
Not a bigot despite appearances
Just a bit disoriented in a world turned upside down
That’s just the sort of symptom to be disguised
And the attempt at disguise creates the impression of bigotry
The old conceal-and-convey you know

That new sensation might be cancer

It’s okay to be afraid or queer
But a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires
That you never
Never never
Let it be known
That you might be unhappy
That the thousand shocks have taken their toll
Soon dead soon forgotten

And now this
LEDs and a slow grey twilight
Dreaming of homicide Inanna
Dreaming of Mesopotamia