& now this

& now this drowning
in flags and whiteness
in sunlight and resentment
coagulating into vehemence

& now this jangle
of keys and bracelets
this smile of sunglasses
and sickly confidence

& now this fear contagious
this loss of driveways
creaturely pleasures
cementing kinship

& now this impoverished
infamy gloating
unabashed, emboldened
disgrace applauding itself

& now the land erased
by exponential amnesia
predictability's outposts
murdering horizons

& now every base inclination
amplified and licensed
chaos summoning chaos
the white seed finds purchase

& now this emergency
at the heart of difference
tearing itself apart
and every face compromised

& now the act
where moralizing falters
announcing limits
thought gleefully abandoned

& now this
& now this breaking
& breaking
until every heart
                              listens