Donald Levering

 Larry, "I attended an artist residency in Willapa Bay, Washington during April and have been doing readings from my newest book, Coltrane's God, since I returned.

The attached poem was written after hearing Bill Nevins speak about the Trump rally in Albuquerque he attended (as an observer) in May" - Donald

No Compass

Now that our stars are aligned
over our watchtowers,
no compass is needed

to go with the press of the throng,
rushing through streets headlong
toward the miracle

that will banish fear
and make us millionaires,
drawn to the spectacle

morphed to pop-up carnival—
smells of caramel corn and elephants,
shrieks from the Tilt o’ Whirl & Wall of Death

the demagogue’s cant blasted from speakers
and old rock hits everybody bobs to
falling in with the torch-lit mob

that swells into a rip-tide
pulling me through the park
past bonfires his partisans fan

into phantoms and sparks
and I bump my head on the feet
of hanged scapegoats and feel sick

with the way they swing on their ropes
bouncing from one blind head to the next
without words of reproach



Donald Levering