Interregnum

 

An Oxford Languages entry comes up, when I Google the title to this poem.  It defines interregnum as one of two things:

 

a period when normal government is suspended, especially between successive reigns or regimes, or

an interval or pause between two periods of office or other things.  

 

In either case, a fitting name for our times. 

Fire-ants, for those not familiar, are a breed of small red ants common in Florida, that do not take kindly to having their ant piles stepped upon.  They will quickly punish the clumsy foot that commits such a heinous crime.  Mostly they are just irritating and make your feet itch.  But for some, too many ant bites, I am told, can result in a terrible life-threatening allergic reaction. 

May this current mayhem be but a tiny irritating sting, in the otherwise robust health of this vibrant country.

Thank you for coming by to read. 

 

 

Plywood on the White House.

Cobwebbed, shattered glass.

Fences round the High Court.

Banners in the grass.

 

Swarming, just as fire-ants,

Descending on their prey,

Engulf our errant footsteps.

Let Chaos reign, today.

 

A sickness in the Chamber,

is hiding, without masks.

What need have we for bullets when

A virus does the task?

 

Incompetents, neglectful:

What harm can come from these?

Oh, yes–Five people lost their lives,

And thousands spread disease.

 

Meanwhile, Inaugurators

Erect a wooden stage,

Like wooden gallows found within

This crowd of vice and rage.

 

Some clamor for impeachment,

Demand the Twenty-Fifth,

While rabid rumors on the net

Meet corporate censorship.

 

What happened to the country

Our fathers recognized?

This monumental battlefield

Brings sorrow to their eyes.

 

Copyright 2021 Andrea LeDew

 

For another battle threatening the existence of our country, read Goliath.