LITTER by Russell Streur

Today I’m going to litter
Spill the rubbish on the curb
Take the morning lies
Tear each page in half
And throw away the red shirts and the Hezbollah
And throw away the juntas and the monks

Today I’m going to litter
Let the gutter pay my water bill
Drop my dollars in the park
For the minstrels and the tramps
And throw away the euro and the yen
And throw away the Wall Street thieves

Today I’m going to litter
Shred my voter registration card
Give the pieces to the wind
And throw away the candidates
And throw away the spin machines
And throw away the wiretaps and secret courts

Today I’m going to litter
Take my car
For one last drive
Toss the miles out the window with the maps
And throw away the rear view mirror
And throw away the license plates

Find one last freeway out of here
And throw away the keys.

THE DEAD TIDE by Russell Streur

The dead tide
Washes ashore
In poison hues
Of methane and petroleum

Rainbows on the water
In fatal colors
Of a new deluge
That does not fall for forty days

From the wrathful sky
Of a jealous god
But rises now forever
From a deeper wound

No patriarch can escape
By cubit measurement
And faithful carpentry
Instead to write the third of testaments:

Wasted northern spotted owl
Wasted woodland caribou
Wasted Andrew’s frigate bird
Wasted Concho water snake

Wasted Indiana bat
Wasted sand gazelle
Wasted Arizona trout
Wasted salt marsh harvest mouse

Wasted clouded leopard
Wasted black necked crane
Wasted Steller’s eider
Wasted Persian fallow deer

Wasted dappled mountain robin
Wasted western snowy plover
Wasted fox in San Joaquin
Wasted shrew in Dismal Swamp

Go tell it Raven on the mount of piety
Where salvation used to be–
Noah’s Ark
Is sinking in the sea.

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