So-To-Speak (With Conviction)

[Something about h1n1 and all our drug-away carefreeness - stagnancy, stasis, good health in the modern age.]

Today we will spend our time
In a line that curls around a city block,
Waiting for our vaccination.

Later, when we are no longer sick,
We will watch the tickers
With grim fascination.

Then we will resign and dissolve
Into our work, into the ghost town,
The passive nation.

And I will say to no one:
Give me one safe bet
And I’ll move the whole world.

In a graffitied window I’ll find
My reflection. Driving alone i listen
For the song in silent foothills.

But with no anchor
The sea is indiscernible madness,
Black billows, sound and evil.

So I surface and resurface,
Think, rethink, edit, revise,
Move towards nothing with conviction.

So we look to our amulets for safety:
Give us one fixed point,
And we’ll leverage the whole world.