TWO TOADS

(Ode: a poem in praise of something.

Toad: a poem in blame of something.)

The Loser Without a Face  (for Joseph Campbell)

Others were in charge

of heaven, others claimed

the day, the night, the fruits

of all those endless shifts

of slavery.

You rose at dawn, went

down to work, and worked

and worked and worked

and, once in a while,

you got a day off

to wash your children’s diapers

to satisfy your spouse

to clean the toilets, the kitchen

and every other room in the bank’s house.

You were hardly a hero.

You lived for too many years.

You died and were almost immediately

obliterated by time.

True story.

Atlas Humbled (for Ayn Rand)

The selfish never

get what they want

‘cause no one likes

a brat.

            And mostly ‘cause

we only want what

we can’t have

anyway—

                       Love,

respect—a way

to pass the time

without worrying, too much,

how bad it’s gonna hurt.

2/4/2014

Florence