As the great Allen Ginsberg once said, I’m sticking ‘my queer shoulder to the wheel.’ So should we all. It’s time. Are you up to the task?

after it all implodes

and the debris litters the psyche & the sight
and the shitstains have stained skin & scarred skull
and disclosed truth, fog-dense, weighs the air inbetween
and the inside thoughts outed shout too clearly
  across rooftops & rest stops, pastures & plots
and lumps form from swung fists that had connected too solidly with nose tips
and the stench of burned flags & standards
  & burned bridges & tunnels
  permeates the garbs & the getups & the guise
  of each & every one

grab a rag and broom and dustpan
grab soap and gauze and bandages
get paint and spackle, get hammer and nail

roll up sleeves, protect your face, glove your hands
the sun’s coming up
  and there is backbreaking work to be done
  vexing vital overdue work

©David Siller – 2021

*****

For the first 100 days of the Biden administration, this website will feature a new poem of What’s Next!? These pieces can be calls to action, calls to attention, or calls to anger. They will light the way and guide the fight. They will get us moving and keep our momentum. They will be filled with hope, with anger, with sorrow. They will get us into good trouble and point out the trouble we need to stop. They will be polished gems, or rough-cut drafts of rage, or in-process pieces searching for peace. They may be haiku or tanka, limericks or lyrics, verses free or fettered.

#100Days100Poems of What’s Next!? wants your poems, your prose, your visual art (photos, drawings, sculptures), your music, your short films and animations. Interpret the theme as broadly as you’d like.

If you would like to submit to this endeavor, please send an email, with your visual art (as .jpg or .pdf) or your poem saved as a word document (.docx) to waxyandpoetic AT gmail DOT com. Include a short bio (2-3 sentences) and social media/website information. All rights remain with the author. Please address any formatting preferences in your email. Waxyandpoetic.com will post submissions time permitting, with at least one per day beginning 20 January 2021. Read, follow, share, submit, live, love, spread light! Don’t forget to use #100Days100Poems !