Blacking Out During the Midterm Elections: Two Poems by Justin Karcher
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Blacking Out During the Midterm Elections
At my old high school, my mom had a panic attack
while voting. I told her it was going to be okay
as I put two “I Voted Today” stickers over my eyes
like coins for the dead.
Pretty quickly, I wandered so far into the dark
that I couldn’t tell if it was the future or not
from the defunded cafeteria straight to a street corner.
When I finally saw the light, a woman asked me
if I wanted to buy some cigarettes. She was holding
a bag of loosies and my family was nowhere in sight.
Shame
One time I was at this haunted B&B
and met the great-great-granddaughter
of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Her name was
Scarlet, ironically. Out back in the cornfield
she pointed to a tree that seemed to swallow
all the light. Even the fireflies wouldn’t go
near it. I lit a cigarette and checked my phone.
America had attacked Iran.
Author: Justin Karcher is a Best of the Net- and Pushcart-nominated poet and playwright from Buffalo.
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