UNDERGROUND VOICES MAGAZINE/DUNCAN FANKBONER


	UNDERGROUND VOICES: POETRY

DUNCAN FANKBONER

okay

the planes were coming over
and they had speakers
that could penetrate to the ground
the roar was like a thousand mountains
crashing into the sea
thunder miles and miles of it
and the people in america
didn't know quite what to make of it
"we're going to bomb the shit out of you!"
the voices in the plane told them
"we're going to turn you and your democracy
into rubble the size of marshmallows!"
and the people of america shouted back
"you can't do that, this is america"
"this is the land of the free and and and"
but the planes couldn't hear them
because of the roar of their engines
and the pilots after telling the people
of america what they were going to do
started dropping big bombs down
like sardines thousands of them
only when they hit the ground
they stuck like arrows and didn't explode
and all the americans just laughed and laughed
they thought it was a new kind of commercial
but then out of each of the bombs crawled
a burned and black skinned child crying
and in some of them blood gushed out
and from some others old dead women
and bones and hair and teeth and broken fingers
and when they realized, all the americans,
when they saw what was coming out of the bombs
they slipped back into their houses
and turned their tvs on and saw that none of it was real
that it was all a prank and that everything was just
as it was supposed to be and they stopped crying
and got some beer from the refrigerator and took a hit
and forgot about the planes and never gave it a second's
thought except that night when the 6 o'clock news
came on but there was nothing about it there either
so they knew everything was okay

the blue room

sure Doug
of course Dick
why not Carl
you tell 'em Bill
all we need is a little time
let it boil
they'll get use to it
they always do
you watch enough immigrants
in buses on their way to prison
business as usual
now is there anything else
well, what about Iran
you just let me handle Iran okay
whatever you say
right let's have some coffee and doughnuts
I've got a meeting to go to
don't let the door hit you in the ass
ha ha ha
Bill's a real go getter
they all are at first
he'll calm down
job security that comes with time
just like everything else
yep just like everything else