some foolish thoughts

Palm trees grew in Antarctica

they were there

before the penguins and the ice,

and there are sea shells

in the mountains of the Himalaya.

The world was upside down before,

so I'd like to suggest that we

stand it on its head.

Let's make barbed wire spun from candy.

A sweet and brittle snack

for soldiers dressed in negligees

waving cocks instead of guns.

They could take their tensions

to the bedroom, reverse

what seems to be the case:

horny boys and girls

-mostly boys-

trading bombs and bullets.

Maybe if they’d fuck;

trade some juice, feel some skin

they’d leave the rest of us alone.

We could settle our conflicts with gifts.

Potlatch was the tradition of those

primitives in the Northwest,

but what did they know?

They had no cash, no stash

of capital or leveraged buyouts.

Let's grow some new forests,

take toxic filth out of the rivers,

raise rhinoceros and buffalo,

turn our dogs back into wolves,

look at stars instead of movies,

ignore celebrity and wealth.

Put our cars up on cinder blocks

make them into flowerbeds

full of jasmine and honeysuckle

tomatoes; squash.

-that'll happen anyway, soon enough.

Remember the old fighter jets

planted in playgrounds

for children to climb on?

That was good idea, lets do it again

-with all of them.

And fences, tear 'em down

every last stick, restore the commons.

It wouldn't be a tragedy

and think of all the nice

distressed furniture we could make.

We could give up the thousand dollar fakes,

but I think we'd manage that ok.

Prohibitions, regulations,

policies, orders,

-dump those too.

Let's have promises

and celebrations like:

I promise to respect you

or how can I help?

Would you like to dance with me?

Lets have a drink,

here, have some of mine.

Don't mind if I do

and I do and I do want

to be a delirious capering fool

laughing and naked

on hot moonless nights

swimming in cool lakes

when the parking lots are gone

because if we're going to be

at each others throats,

I want a nibble not a bite