Poem for Wednesday and Bunnies

The Restoration
By Gary Jackson

We drank coffee and got ready,
listened to 93.3 during our commute

to take our mind off how
every day we die on tv. Every day

down the block, kids in surgical masks
spraypaint <i>Magneto was Right</i> on street signs

and new storefronts waiting to redeem
spa resort passes and avocado toast dreams

until they, too, are forced out of business.
Or not. People can surprise you

like beating cancer or criminal charges,
the 2016 election, the high cost

of middle shelf liquor with a decent view.
If you want to succeed, let them see you

coming, our mothers once said before asking
if we wanted the switch or the belt.

But a whooping beats sitting
at the rooftop bar looking over the steepled skyline

and feeling the pang of worlds we’d rather be,
with two empty seats right beside us

that stay empty for the next two hours
surrounded by people drinking & eating

standing up—the wind threatening
to blow their hats off their sunburned heads.

Somewhere right now
there are two people looking for those seats.

We keep hoping they’ll find them—
find us. Let’s have another drink,

watch the muted news above
a row of decent bourbon,

wait to hear, to see
if they make it to us or turn up on tv. 

-------- 

We had another quiet day around here that started very early for me because I had a virtual doctor appointment (went fine, but apparently her examination revealed that I am not over 75, so I can't get the vaccine in the next phase in my state). I got a couple of things done during the rainy morning, we all took a walk together in the afternoon, and it was a two-bunny day despite the rain.

 

We ordered Ethopian food from Sheba for dinner, which was delicious, then I watched Voyager's "Learning Curve" with my fan group (still mediocre) and talked about the topics that would stress me out all night: the Georgia election, the lack of justice for Jacob Blake, the impending insanity in DC tomorrow, the South African COVID variant that may be vaccine-resistant. 

So with only a cursory glance at the Heisman Trophy news, the Grammy Awards cancellation news, the Tanya Roberts news, and the Kardashian-West divorce news, we watched the first half of Avatar, which remains visually one of the most enjoyable movies I've ever seen. The special effects hold up superbly and the world-building is very satisfying despite the shallow imperialism.