You and me, we shiver
On the eve of June’s heat,
As tears river, we fear winter will never cease
A reaper in blue sheaves the light,
While I follow your clang on a catwalk above a city’s strife
A fire ignites a mile to the right,
Bones crack beneath a nightstick’s might,
Now we know treachery is here as the moon kites,
Marches peaceful descend to devil’s delight
When a pompous tweet arrives to prod and kindle,
Extending fate’s fiendish plight
‘Where is hope?’ you ask,
Upon the sight of mischiefs in the dark,
Sweeping Liberty into its night
‘It only gets worse,’ I fear,
All is stark, this doom that alights,
Pen strokes blister with a torrent,
Wicked malice writ under the cover of juris,
A plague festers and poverty peaks
And our best ally — the Hope you seek — is in retreat
‘How does sanity prevail against Boogaloo freaks?’
‘Madness won, we have nowhere to sneak,’
I lament as our feet dangle over Banks Street,
‘A wish,’ you say, ‘would be to see Earth some other day’
‘Then,’ I remind, ‘we would only be turning away.’
Twenty-Twenty is vision to witness,
For you and me to share in grief,
Observing humanity’s knee-bent defeat,
To hear its peals for Enlightenment,
An elusive tonic for the menaces
we can’t seem to beat
(Written in June, during BLM protests; the themes remain relevant following the siege on the U.S. Capitol)
Adrian Brijbassi 