more urgent now to return

                                to that table   those chairs

                                                those

                                               bottles

                                               of myth

                                                   we

                                       poured nightly

                                                Market Forces

                                   

                        There's a force plants bulbs for profit

                                    then severs their stems in spring

                        there's a green fuse drives daffodils

                                                to genius

                        while bulbs divide     beneath

                        such forces in our genes

                        though life's beset

                                    beset by forces unforeseen

                                                            like cancer

                        unfairness is a market force   as yet misunderstood

                        it's not the caprice of callous gods   

                        have not the gods long left us?

                        then where's the meaning   cause and effect

                        where's the profit in untimely death?

                       

                        we go on as we've always gone

                        hear news

                        who's up    who's down

                       

                        & wonder why it was not us

                        may these cut flowers

                                    these daffodils

                                                bring cheer

                        life comes full circle

                        with bold display

                        cut flowers on its grave

                       

                        © Dick Russell, 2013