“It was in Spain that men learned one can be right and still be beaten, that force can vanquish spirit, that there are times when courage is not its own reward.” [1] – Albert Camus

December 19, 2019:

30 people are protesting
and it’s so cold
we can’t feel our limbs. [2]

We’re in need of warmer gloves
and de-icing salt
and things money can’t buy.

How long do I shiver like this?
Can motorists read the signs?
My chants disappear in steam.

So little makes sense these days.
I’ve seen cars go off cliffs
with no ice around to indict:

The wreckage flames,
then is towed away
like a bad dream,

and only the dreamers
understand who’s at fault.
I occupy this sidewalk,

Snowplows be damned.
I author the history
my son will read about.

Tomorrow there will be debate:
No, I will not yield my time;
When the gavel cracks wood

I will not come to order:
Let the parliamentarian observe
his antebellum rules.

One may well ask what good standing here.
How does reason answer to madness?
A hot shower can erase the cold but not

the shiver. Is it not better to fast than go hungry?
Our headlights struggle against the sleet:
Green, yellow, red blur together. Chaos beckons.

There is no guarantee we’ll make it home.
Yet the hour’s grown late, the streets are empty, and
there’s nothing left to do but get some rest.

[1] London, Maryann Bird. “The Pain In Spain.” Time, Time Inc., 25 Jan. 2002, http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2056137,00.html.

[2] Collins, Sean. Pro-Impeachment Protests Swelled in Cities across the Country – but There’s Still No Real Impeachment Movement. Vox, 18 Dec. 2019, https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/12/18/21028069/impeachment-protests-house-vote-sentate-trial.