nonetheless, three or four reigning judges
remained obdurate,
seated high above the others
overplaying any hint of eminence,
directing a relentless clan of jesters and jugglers
doing handstands
donning reactionary red hats,
scatting moonshine Dixieland songs
fronting the well-armed mob
then followed by another sleight of hand performance of
Orange’s bombastic snake oil cure,
pulsating wheels transformed any hint of reason into foolsgold,
while positioned around the stadium
a toxic area of quicksand
now MaGGoT infested itself
throughout this fractured land
and after the November deluge
remaining congregants knelt before their august judges,
pleading for even more camouflage,
frozen trees embracing cold deadwood,
while we imperfect survivors of this spectacle callously stood aside,
some brooding three legged
some awkwardly balanced on two:
all of us now existing
outside any recognizable homeland
7/20/20