Press Releases

past the window & doors that mask the offal smells from 

the morgue chilling corpses of dead oaths of office 

past the gate to the center for the circulation of subverted truth 

kept in influential poses at cost plus unlimited spin 

past the mirror image afloat in the bulletproof glass protecting 

the Magna Carta from handgun destructionist urges 

past the video game that best captures the ongoing struggle to 

guarantee the safety of the Bill of Rights in the face of 

Wall Street wunderkind unregulated by the big screen’s 

pale shades of Hiroshima 

past the derivations of Tom Paine’s common sentiments about 

sellouts for merely personal gain who bring to mind the 

complimentary blanket providers used to spread small 

pox into targeted populations 

past where the entrance to Constitution Square used to be 

before the pedestrian became an outlaw unless malled 

and carded for the privilege of participation in the 

consumptionary revolution, honk if you have credit 

past the weather extremes of politicians’ crocodile tear floods of 

regrettable decisions over this situation that necessitates 

doing nothing until you hear from a dodge-the-issue 

leadership out of step with the bipartisans of record 

past locked-door houses of worship & the muffled silence of 

adjacent neighborhoods in hiding from the injustice 

that weighs on the thoroughfares by the busload 

past the portals sealed from cacophonous screeching out of 

the compressed lungs of unrighteous detainees held 

for their thoughts rather than their deeds in inestimable 

holding cells around the world 

past the secret prisons and the wispy nature of the countless 

rendition listees who remain in the white pages already 

distributed to each home in the area code although 

destined to never again answer a call 

past the mass burial sites due to air strikes based upon faulty  

research provided by the institutions of higher learning 

who forge better living through chemistry’s double 

edged sword’s swath into the survival rate of suckling 

babies who just happened to be born there 

past the shipping docks full of trucks loading up the orders 

requesting landmines, bombs, ammunition, rockets, 

guided missiles, & trigger fingers from fully recession 

proof manufacturers subsidized by tax dollars 

past the water-boarding technique instruction camps where 

there’s forever a waiting list of capable individuals 

devoted to enforcement instead of protection & service 

past the municipal offices & their ostentatious plaques of 

civic pride at services rendered during eras reported 

as more prosperous forgotten now by the citizenry 

because stories of bravery by the hero-leaders are extinct 

past the elementary schools named after Generals Macarthur, 

Pershing & Eisenhower 

past the junior high schools still called Andrew Jackson (none 

Andrew Johnson?), U.S. Grant, or Robert E. Lee 

past the high schools named for Jefferson, Washington or Hoover 

past the myriad campuses of Lincoln Junior College, good old  

Roosevelt U., Reagan School of Economics 

past the graduate chairs named for fallen astronauts in the vacuum 

of empathy shown for favorite chimps lost in experiment 

to rid skin irritants from cosmetic concoctions 

past the escalating cost of stamps in post offices with flags 

abreeze in the particulate air Benjamin Franklin would  

want to invent as per spectacles as nose siphon to 

filter the fumes a hundred dollar bill buys from Exxon 

past the promises given in the Army Recruitment Centers 

regarding low fatality rates on the modern battlefield 

& the backup financial aid for college degree & beyond 

past auto corridor & gas station row off the freeway under 

protection by a private mercenary army better equipped 

than US as well as UN allies in Afghanistan 

past the veterans’ hospitals with prominent memorial statues to 

prove heroes of war, often on horse, never fade away, 

however must withstand graffiti & occasional urination 

past political party headquarters of all denominations who incubate 

the eggs of power into full-blown chickens-with-their-heads- 

to-cut-on-insider info on the scramble to grab sand money 

castles from the jaws of deflation 

past brick & stone, wooden & glass, & open air cathedral-style 

churches full of polished vacant pews filled with empty 

donation coffers that force the sale of resources & property 

past major meth labs disguised as legitimate pharmaceutical 

concerns on state street that not so straight street up 

the nose that sniffs profit from the grasp of instability in kind 

past munitions installers who work 24-7 anywhere in the world 

such a service is required, satisfaction security certified  

no matter APR, call now, no waiting 

past main street disconnects from what cheap goods actually 

don’t leave when they’re taken, if, as most resources are, 

removed according to the methodology of strip mining 

past elm street denials that truly just deserts take taste from  

the mouths of uneducated minions who never received 

a decent appetizer, much less an entrée, let them eat 

whatever’s in the crate of trickle down 

past the complicit nature our tax support for atrocity suggests 

to any descendants able in a century or two to picture 

our actions, against reason’s best guess a fool’s quest 

at best the charge of the light-headed brigade into oblivion 

past dysfunctional representation who above & over the hill 

according to the will of prudence in daily decisions lead 

right where this emphasis can only go 

these signs of an ad infinitum continuum point toward the well- trod road to armed conflict, more hurt, more death 

better shout out no, better not go, return to the family awaits 

peace & love, live side by side neighbors, glad to remain 

the person you are in the eyes of the children everywhere