The Garden of Love

And the sons of Hippocrates entered the
Garden of Love, swords unsheathed upon
The nave, knights of doom that clove the
Dawning. First, they hacked at the peonies

Of privacy, which groaned through ancient
Brow, as angels wept upon the gloaming;
Next came the lilies Drug Repurposing and
Early Treatment, which they attacked with

Equal relish, until they fell like beads of dew,
A crimson cry upon the plains; the firefly tree
Followed, a cryptic creature that grew upside
Down – the base representing emergency use

Authorizations and the crown a fully approved
Medicine – which they rabidly assaulted, until
It lay still on hollow ground; they duly engaged
The twinflower, which upholds the distinction

Between with deaths and of deaths – this too
They vanquished, sending it straight to the
Sunless shadow. Approaching the final ram-
Part, the zone which separates light from the

Primordial chasm, they espied the two most
Regal trees of the green, Informed Consent
And Do No Harm, which they eagerly set upon
With torches and axes, and were soon dancing

Around the pyre. Indeed, this carnage went on
For some time, until nothing alive remained in
The garden except two plants. They were pois-
Onous: their names were Money and Power.

David Penner’s articles on politics and health care have appeared in Dissident Voice, CounterPunch, Global Research, The Saker blog, OffGuardian and KevinMD; while his poetry can be found at Dissident Voice, Mad in America, and redtailedhawk.substack.com. Also a photographer, he is the author of three books of portraiture: Faces of The New Economy, Faces of Manhattan Island, and Manhattan Pairs. He can be reached at 321davidadam@gmail.com. Read other articles by David.