the eighties are gone
the nineties are gone
what are we so afraid of?
we try so hard to box out
what now is, from what was
hoping rhetoric can change reality
hoping lakes still freeze like they used to
hoping fires don’t burn more than they did
wishing away the rising heat
and rising, a zoo of millions
singing songs of joy or lament
some ugly, some apoplectic, some hurt
some believing a new day has dawned
some believing the end is nigh
all missing each other in the subtext