October 4, 2012

poem 364 of a poem a day for 2012




the night the zombie apocalypse came to Lake George, we blamed that on Obama too

it started like any other evening
Summer was just beginning and
the smell of pine sap was in everything
as thick as fog in October
strange jokes were being told
over the radio like it was Halloween already
reports of zombies and animal desecration
cow hearts and other organs
being seen strewn about between
and inside of the houses
in this little hamlet nestled
in the foothills of the Adirondacks

I had a full day of activities planned for tomorrow
hiking, photography and a multi-family pancake breakfast
but I went to the hardware store first
with a nagging feeling the talk radio loonies might be right
as for more eggs, flour and bacon they could always wait
when I got there it looked as if I wasn’t the only one
with the crazy idea that this zombie thing might be real
and in the frays of Summer, with our communication lines
not as kept up as they could be , my thinking went
if you didn’t hear from neighbors
perhaps they were just chilling
with the thought there is no work and this is play
I'm on vacation so don’t bother me. I’m trying to unplug here…

at the hardware store there were only two pick-axes left
and one shotgun, I bought them all with as much ammo
as the clerk would sell me, he was clearly fidgety
and said he wanted to leave, saying the stockpile of shells
were “not” for sale even though they were in clear sight…
puzzled by his apprehension I asked what might be the matter
and he shot right back….why are you buying what you’re buying…
I have children…and my vehicles are gassed…
make sure you get propane, matches and water purifiers too, he said…
I knew he felt like he was speaking the truth
and that he might be as scared as I was puzzled,
he said as I was leaving take these walkie-talkies out of their packaging
and grab some batteries they might come in handy
and he also said as I was nearly out the door
that they used to say around these parts
that the prison on the other side of the mountain
near the lake a few miles North of here
was used as part of some government experimentation trials
on prisoners in exchange for their early release
I laughed and then realized how serious he was so I apologized
and I loaded the truck up with the gear
and as I pulled away things seemed quaint
and oddly perfect and in place
so when I returned to the rental cottage
much to my surprise the street was littered
with the haphazard drop trail of hurry and get the fuck out of here
as I pulled into the driveway, a young woman came up to me
she says people are dying and coming back to eat our hearts out
bands of crows are following the growing hordes
an army group of trucks came by to evacuate everyone
my children are still missing, that’s why I stayed…
your family has been sent North to a base the army said is near a prison
the radio keeps cutting in and out with crazy tales of piracy
and looting and the government collecting all the guns
complete with jingly assertions that it’s all Obama’s fault
that if we only had voted for Romney
47 % of us wouldn’t need to be eliminated
to make the country great again

they keep saying some great scourge, about to scrub the earth
had just begun and no amount of balloting
could ever substitute the mechanical ballet, we Americans have 
when thirsting for bullets and bibles and canned goods
she looks up at me and says help me I’m scared
and I don’t know what to do
so I look at her white tee and blue jeans covered in frantic smears
of pine sap and red clay from running around chasing
into where her children may be and then back into her blue eyes
and say to her if you want to ride with me
perhaps together we can both find what we’re looking for
so I say to her let’s take an inventory and find what we have
the road ahead might not be an easy place to find answers
without the ghosts of more questions coming into view first
like those golden tablets Joseph Smith found
I’m guessing, one must wander a bit through the debris
in order to find something that can make up for a lack of history
so we loaded up the truck just as the crows began to gather
a few blocks away tomorrow seems to know I said
as we were getting in the truck
that today is just another shit storm
and she says without missing a beat
so much for things changing here in America
I wonder what the rest of the world is thinking
as they look for hope on the horizon too

EJR ©

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