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      September 9, 2018Poem for John McCainSeth Simons

      the old man died    how terrible    to be alive
          for so long    & then dead    suddenly forever
      dragging a small plow    across a hardening field   
          senator    war-bringer    at the comedy show
      nobody mentioned you    what a lovely day   
          drinking vodka & ginger beer    buying chocolate
      & comic books    markets soaring    bombs falling
          elsewhere thankfully    as they always have
      bless you john    for the lotteries i did not enter
          & keep winning    & to which i owe
      my small imperfect kingdom    my lilacs & blood
          money    so easy to forget    whose backs
      we broke for this    doom approaching    surely
          you did years ago    what a pity    your own body
      killed you    i do not think i will be so lucky    oh
          john    air thinning    fires everywhere    children
      wailing in the streets    what you wrought swiftly
          we will suffer slowly    what was taken must be
      reclaimed    it sucks honestly    i love being alive
          on planet earth    all its dogs & rock formations
      goldenrods    lamplight    swallows in the creekside
          mist    i mean fuck    everything is so good
      & you stole it    that’s okay though    i’m not mad
          tonight we light one candle    to your memory
      vanishing    like the mist    we are presently
          drifting into    gravedigger    deceiver    angel
      who fell    unlike you    we have time   

      from Poets Respond

      Seth Simons

      “This week we were subjected to the spectacle of our political class celebrating John McCain, a corrupt, war-mongering imperialist who made the world measurably worse for all but an elite few. This poem is about the world he left behind.”

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