M. A. Schaffner
An Honest Day’s Work
On the trail of the decadent policy
one uncovers hideous proclivities.
Something there is that does not love outcomes
but wallows in the act of discussion,
recapitulation, weighted voting,
and applause for whoever brought the pastries.
The vendor paying for the presentation
takes the future of America to heart.
It is a small heart, dense as bitumen,
and deranges the paths of brighter stars.
Today I met with myself to query
the line between witness and accomplice.
It’s faint, but I suspect that’s no excuse,
and smudge it whenever I step across.
one uncovers hideous proclivities.
Something there is that does not love outcomes
but wallows in the act of discussion,
recapitulation, weighted voting,
and applause for whoever brought the pastries.
The vendor paying for the presentation
takes the future of America to heart.
It is a small heart, dense as bitumen,
and deranges the paths of brighter stars.
Today I met with myself to query
the line between witness and accomplice.
It’s faint, but I suspect that’s no excuse,
and smudge it whenever I step across.
M. A. Schaffner has poetry recently published or forthcoming in Stand (UK), the Beloit Poetry Journal,The Hollins Critic, ARC (CA), and The North (UK). Other works include the collection, The Good Opinion of Squirrels (Word Works, 1997) and the novel, War Boys (Welcome Rain, 2002). When not writing Schaffner works as a civil servant in Washington.
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