— for al

where we can’t afford food       and we can’t afford rent
and the landlords complain to our ministers that our blood
is too thin to survive on     and the ballcaps + mudflaps
      + rich lakehouse moms complain about the genitals
of children they will never meet and where the nazis
     are winning again in the comments sections

+ al where we are indeed polluting ourselves to death
where we are trapped under the biggest polyvinyl tent
suffocating + fighting about pronouns      I saw the sun
     pebbled behind clouds stretched thin like the skin of
some ancient dragon wing + pink like a membrane shadow

   and I was the moon      just half a sliver     tucked into bed
and I floated on the lake     still the moon     and held caucus
   among the reeds n the weeds       n certain dead leeches
and holding electoral power I froze everyone’s rent and bought
everyone breakfast      even the truckers     and I promised
to solve even more problems if everyone agreed to be kind
until I was full again n could acquire majority
          n it might have worked —

       but this is a hateful place now al
desperation has raided our larders        ground our teeth     peeled
open our oldest scars     and our hearts are overfull outhouses filled
     with shit now al       n so
   rent climbs so high          even the landlords starve
and when we resort to the basest n most awful impulse
it’s recommended not to eat those ghouls     n we all huddle together
for the longest winter     lighting cattails for torches
       bundled in old socks      n sappy sticks
    n pulped up gym floors      waiting for the final signoff