Thirteen Ways of Being a Nuisance

I

Among twelve appointed powers

The only moving thing

Was the hand of dark money.

II

I was of four minds,

Like a tomb

In which there are four indictments.

III

The principles whirled in the autumn winds.

They were a small part of the pantomime.

IV

Custom and a firearm

Are one.

Custom superstition and a firearm

Are one.

V

I do not know which to purchase

The magic of addictions

Or the luster of redemption promis’d,

The Nasdaq climbing

Or just after.

VI

Ad campaigns filled the long window

With barbaric sass.

The shadow of the Donald

Crossed it to and fro.

The mood

Traces in the shadow

An indecipherable cause.

VII

O thin minds of Congress,

Why do you imagine golden birds?

Do you not see how the salesman

Walks around the feet

Of the children about you?

VIII

I know noble counsel

And honest, inescapable logic;

But I know, too,

That attorney fees are involved

In what I know.

IX

When Elon flew out of sight,

He marked the edge

Of so many bags of s---.

X

At the sight of lawyers,

Flying in a green light,

Even the grifters on Wall Street

Would cry out sharply.

XI

They rode over Connecticut

In a tesla.

Once, a fear pierced them,

In that they mistook

The shadow of the equipage

For Morlocks.

XII

The river is moving,

Rudy’s dye must be dripping.

XIII

It was evening all afternoon,

It was snowing

And it was going to snow.

Ospreys alighted

On forty ‘Niners.