springing ahead in the recession

suddenly,
winter’s slow decline
is hastened by our legislative bodies
by a collective act of pressing a few buttons
turning a dial just a hair
before bed or in the morning to catch up

the afternoon extends
shooting up like a child’s growth
after some time away
sped up like a video in fast forward
the light lingers and its presence
is offputting, leaving one with the feeling
of something forgotten
of wool being softly and slowly
pulled over eyes

all this is the here today gone tomorrow falsity
it is the ending of the story you are told that you don’t believe
it is the magic show trick revealed, the false back, the secret hinge

we are springing forward
the light is only minutes longer
we just quicken our step
change our answer when someone asks
if we have the time
it is artificiality in our march toward the joy of summer

suddenly,
the talk on the streets
the niceties between strangers
have come to include the gloom of financial markets
the dropping of numbers in indexes
our mosquito media is swarming
landing on stories, rubbing the long thin legs together
inserting their mouthpieces
finding chicken littles
creating them with headlines and on scene reporting
Another Sky Falls Today

i don’t understand
the idea of everything changing over night
i sit and watch the clouds roll over
and they move with the same grace as always
the land they move over is blown by the same wind
the temperature fluctuates with the same uncertainty
it may be the fear
the talk of the uncertain future
as if it has been anything but
there is a shaking inside when they talk
there is an irritating tendency to talk about
our return to values, a reexamination of habits, some change
that wasn’t there last night, last week
wasn’t there when banks and spirits were high


i hate being told to be scared
or the hinting and implication
that fear should be my reaction

it is a tough time to be
a tough time for spring to come
to lose an hour or an investment