SNAP
Goes the can of beans,
The soda-can-dreams
That fizz and hiss
On their way to oblivion.

SNAP
Goes the switch,
The fluorescent twitch
Of overhead lights
In bright asylum halls
Where the hungry wait, wait, wait…

SNAP
Say the rich.
SNAP
Says the Congress.
SNAP
Asks the grocer.

SNAP SNAP
Goes the budget again,
Nine meals as good as ten:
A stunted child
And roaring economy.

And SNAP
Goes the alarm that wakens
The still-waiting, the forsaken,
Paperwork in hand,
Child in hand:
Handouts, hand-me-downs,
Goodwill coats
And people of good will
Ladling soup into Styrofoam—
Styrofoam dreams
Drug-tested for worthiness,
Styrofoam dreams discarded,
Clogging the sewers, left forever
To bob in evaporating filth
Like the immortal relic
Of a society that long ago
Thought it was great.

SNAP SNAP
SNAP
SNAP SNAP

Written on Saturday, March 24th, 2018