Na/GloPoWriMo #22: As A Sign of the Times
by Michael Doyle

As a sign of the times
The last book I read
Was read online
Poetry told no longer rhymes
Nor does it impart lesson or deed
Yet, as an art, they call this fine

As a sign of these days
The last photo that I took
Was taken on my phone
Looking straight ahead with steady gaze
With pinched fingers I zoomed to where I look
With a few quick edits, I made it my own

In a sign of what I have heard
Musicians sample and don't call it stealing
While neither rhyme nor beat stands alone
What passes for thought comes across blurred
It's only by the good Lord being willing
These hard cuts are not engraved in stone

In a sign of these perilous times
The Stones are seen somehow as right
Police are called devils and criminals, saints
Elections aren't won except like street crimes
Darkness has at least become considered light
While gorillas pass out masterpieces in paints

In a sign of our contemporary days
It isn't just Garbo who wants to be alone
There's a great peace to living in isolation
Masked and socially distanced has become our ways
While the bravest hearts fail to condone
The mockery we've made of our nation

In these days, discussions have few rules
While lessons and lies are netted and exchanged
We laugh in tears at this brave new world
Where we are governed by tyrants and fools
Even our dearest and nearest feel estranged
As we charge into life battle flags unfurled

(c) April 22, 2021  Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved