Presented without commentary.

One Year In

parents have endured relentless and
repeated phone calls--video and otherwise--
	but no flights and no visits
	no hugs and no kisses

you can only see smiles by the starburst
scrunches at the corners of the eyes

two jabs have vaccinated exactly one half household

this Queens-bound R on a Thursday afternoon
has in this car ten masked New Yorkers
one asleep; one phone-focused; one scribbling in a notebook

we have seen knees on necks and shoves to concrete,
kettling and kicking and killing and crying
we have seen protests for justice and
insurrections for just nonsense

we have showed up at the polls
and avoided subway poles
we have washed and washed and washed our hands
but not enough to remove the stench and stain
of white supremacy

we have threatened and condemned
grocers and governors
and baristas and bartenders
and teachers and preachers
for the great sin of being asked to mask

we have received pittances
and projected penances 
and broadcast our grievances and gripes and grudges
on the world-wearying web in which
we are caught
prepped to feed 
bloodthirsty capitalism
and mega-mecha-tech kaiju

we have read books and replenished them in piles
and binged the movies and television series 
of distraction and hope and humor
	and drama

we have said goodbye, too soon,
	to half a million dreams
	and half a million second-chances
	and half a million next times

one year in
	and the only way out
		is waiting

©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 !