The Waters of Chaos

The waters of chaos are rising
Whole islands submerged
Sharks eating piranhas eating sharks

The guy who would be king
Has stolen all the rowboats
And is selling them back for millions

Cooperation and human decency
Have been banished
And set adrift in rickety rafts

Someone you know
Will drown outside a floating hospital
For lack of a life vest

Childhood has been abolished
Kids are busy learning
To swim for their lives

Immigrants, people of color, the differently-abled. lgbtqia,
Are engulfed by tsunamis of cruelty
And dragged impossibly far from shore

Workers who serve, construct, deliver, cook,
And clean up messes for the beach club elite
Tread water for minimal wages

There are plans afoot
To sell us the water
We will drown in

The oligarchs of delusion believe
They can stay dry forever
But their own chaos will inundate them

When ordinary people erupt from the deep
To torpedo their morality-free pandemonium
And drain the swamp of swamps

Buff Whitman-Bradley’s poetry has been widely published in print and online journals. He has a new book coming out from Finishing Line Press, A Friendly Little Tavern Somewhere Near the Pleiades. Read other articles by Buff.