THE DAWN OF DARKNESS
On Dec. 15, 2017, Trump’s White House has banned seven words from future CDC documents
When words are banned
A fetus sheds amniotic tears.
Diversity, all embracing is
essential to life.
Restrictions are ignorance’s entitlement.
Evidence-based reality
heralds science based facts.
The transgendered will not be erased.
These words now shatter vulnerability.
Willful words that must be spoken.
SEVEN SINS
Lust, not necessarily a negative
When my beloved returns, it’s a celebration
and lust is a piquant pleasure.
Sloth, an unnatural urban vice,
City dwellers thrive on action.
O! Greed can be infinite; material dross,
brilliant careers, enviable domiciles
have not been my major preoccupation.
Gluttony, the manifold cannabis munchies
Hunger but an abstraction in my overfed life
Pride’s my downfall, written in the stars
Envy’s just a waste of time
Someone’s always brighter, bigger, thinner, younger
Wrath is compassion’s nemesis
The darkest abyss in which to fall.
Native New Yorker Ilka Scobie is a poet and art writer who teaches poetry in the public school system. Recent work has appeared in Marie Claire Italia, London Artlyst, American Book Review and small press publications. Book publications include the anthology Resist Much/Obey Little, and Flower Power Man. She is an associate editor of Live Mag!