When she saw the television program

she knew something was off;

regardless, she voted it on—

and in the end, can we blame her:

 

Can we blame blindfolds

surrounded by crossed swords;

the tv static humming faint fluttered buzzing,

and in the end will we shame her:

 

She was drowning, swimming between channels

and tributaries of cinema, stage, and screen.

We laughed at her, we cried with her,

we buried our fury beneath logos and lawn signs.

​

“Have you seen the end of this?” said a talking clownfish.

She’d forgotten she was a character in her own drama

like happens in a dream. When up against yourself,

You stutter, staking out a claim, that never fully realizes

it’s wrong.

 

*Subject drawn from a hat by first co-lab-er; then passed around the group*

​

1. Ian Drew Forsyth

2. Billie Wright

3. Daniel Granias