the moment when
you find out how useless
you really are
when you realize that
you will never save anyone
a sunday afternoon
possibly
with your wife and children asleep
and late winter snow falling from
a tarnished silver sky
a war somewhere
which is nothing new
dead babies and suicide bombers
and all of the reasons
you should support the killing
all of the poets who
want you to join their causes
to sign their petitions and
praise their hollow words and
christ
it’ll take more than a river
full of corpses to stop the bills
from arriving
listen
nothing you own has
any value
nothing you touch will
retain any warmth
even faith in these
small bitter truths is better
than no faith at all
