Marc Olmsted's poem "Could Be"

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Marc Olmsted has appeared in City Lights Journal, New Directions in Prose & Poetry, New York Quarterly, The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry and a variety of small presses. He is the author of five collections of poetry, including What Use Am I a Hungry Ghost?, which has an introduction by Allen Ginsberg.   Olmsted's 25 year relationship with Ginsberg is chronicled in his Beatdom Books memoir Don't Hesitate: Knowing Allen Ginsberg 1972-1997 - Letters and Recollections, available on Amazon. For more of his work, http://www.marcolmsted.com/

Could Be

 

Could be Tibet chased out by Mao

Could be America scalped by the settlers

Could be Cambodia lined up & shot

Could be Selma - club cracking my skull

Could be collateral damage - drone’s white silent flash 

(now a wedding shoe with a stump)

Could be Rwanda shot by a child

Could be Dachau dreaming of bread

Could be a kitten in Ukraine under rubble

Could be an insect a tiny fish a baby rat

Could be alive in the 6 Realms suffering

 

© 2022 Marc Olmsted




Comments

  1. jck hnryMarch 29, 2022 at 6:01 AM

    I’ve enjoyed Marc’s work.

    ReplyDelete
  2. DaveMarch 31, 2022 at 3:39 AM

    The last line is a smooth finish, the hint of vanilla after a fine scotch.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownApril 14, 2022 at 10:14 PM

    The Rwandan line resonates as that's where the U.K. has decided to send 'illegals'.

    ReplyDelete

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