POETRY: gary gets with it

Michael hands me a coffee mug that says

         vote republican

and my only silent response        is the phrase

                                        i don’t vote.

                ——               ——–             ——-

the wind speaks in short, grunting gusts

                                and prolonged silences..

                  the message here is that

                                        silence

                                    is    superior

                       and i am a failure because my storm

                                             never stops blowing,

                                             my wind never ceases…

                               serene rain sings sleep, peace, calmness, beauty

                                                     and i am

                                                    a hailstorm,

                                                    a violent cacophony

                                                    of cluttered   contradictory   w o r d s .

                                     much better if i learned the stillness

                                                        of mute   autumn dusk.