Obliteration Summer

Young Fletcher and Harper, 

the men who stood around 

Home Depot Monday mornings,

the CPB and CBS and CDC,

and Covid vaccines,

Melissa and Mark and Medicaid

annd Gilbert the golden retriever,

half of Kyiv and all of Gaza,

Dragon Bravo and Red Canyon—

the Southwest wilderness—

and Donald’s ankles,

the guest book from Molester Island,

the rainbow crosswalk outside Pulse nightclub,

a pulse from the heart of Democracy,

my sibling’s career at DOD,

the Department of “Defense,”

my uncle’s career at DOJ,

a neighbor’s career at DEA,

the careers of fifty-two of my co-workers

—Slack deactivated, #OpenToWork on LinkedIn—

to save taxpayers a nickel per year,

any chance of a mortgage-rate reduction 

or cheaper eggs,

Charlie Kirk’s holiday plans,

Colbert and Kimmel,

and broke-ass Uncle Sam,

whose skull was crushed

under the boot of hubris.