Paul Wilner
Once American faces
were beautiful to me,
I was their loyal lover,
but now they look cruel
and as if they had narrow thoughts.
- Paul Goodman
The path to justice is neither
easy, nor inevitable, as made
painfully obvious in history,
our own and the world’s.
So we rely on you, those
whom we’ve repeatedly
reminded, know nothing.
We know less.
Greta, Alexandria, Emma Gonzalez.
Who needs Savio, or that other
Mario, lost in the freed speech of time,
like the rest of us, struggling
for a way forward? The darkness
surrounds us, Creeley sd,
that one-eyed prophet. Drive,
for christ’s sake, look
out where yr going.
Is there solace, wisdom
on offer, barter against
the received platitudes,
perceived attitudes
we see online, on message,
in like-minded echos.
Sadly irrelevant.
“I think you’re going to need
a bigger boat.” Let’s
sail, seek minute
particulars in these
titanic waters.
Shall we dance, eyes
wide shut, hope for
the best of everything
that isn’t? Or maybe
just stand, and deliver.
Paul Wilner is a poet, critic, and essayist. He was an editor at the San Francisco Examiner and the San Francisco Chronicle. He is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and his book reviews appear in The Los Angeles Times and Zzyva.