I braced myself for the inevitable question after speaking with a woman I just met at the Library’s monthly book club.
“What happened to you? Why are you in that wheelchair?” she asked.
I gave her a sly look. After glancing around to see if anyone was in earshot…
On zombie days when Buddha sleeps
and karma seems to pause
the world lies deep in murky haze
obscuring sacred laws
On zombie days when Buddha sleeps,
the fortune-monger thrives
and peddlers sell their souls for keeps
endangering all our lives
On zombie days when Buddha sleeps
and countries fall astray
the…
Kidnapping power
plant workers for mere rubles
Russia holds the world
at ransom occupying
Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia
Mary Keating 7/2022
Inspired by The Wall Street Journal’s article 7/5/2022 Russian Army Turns Ukraine’s Largest Nuclear Plant Into a Military Base.
As I read the article with increasing horror, I was struck…
Head full of wishes
Blown apart with the next breeze
Waltzing toward the sun
Mary Keating 2022
1791
Civilians afraid
government won’t protect them,
win right to bear arms.
2022
Civilians afraid.
Government won’t protect them
from right to bear arms.
A forsaken altar
erected for the dying
energy gods still
stands bright against
tempestuous blight
Words offering comfort
cling to crumbling facades
A hint of the true cost paid
for temporary solace
Weeds spread through
cracks in the veneer
Multiply like rumors
Echos of plenty
now registering
Empty
Mary Keating
Poet, lawyer, disability advocate, wheelchair rider. Published in SFWP, Poetry for Ukraine, Scribes Micro Fiction, Wordgathering. Pushcart Prize nominee.
