Revolution #9 (Poem) by Howard Good

REVOLUTION #9
by Howard Good

The queen swallows poison
from the silver thimble

around her neck, but the king,
with mistaken optimism,

trusts that the executioner’s aim
with the ax will be true.

Only the old remain crouched
behind closed shutters.

Reports of miracles arrive
from throughout the kingdom:

love suicides returned to life,

God’s preemptive voice heard
in the crackle of flames.

Before the library burned,
there was a quiet place to sleep.

Now the secret police know
who the insomniacs are,

and the insomniacs themselves
just how interminable the night is.

Author bio:

Howie Good, a journalism professor at the State University of New York at New Paltz, is the author of six poetry chapbooks, including the e-book, Police and Questions (Right Hand Pointing, 2008), available free at Howie Good. He has been nominated twice for a Pushcart Prize and twice for the Best of the Net anthology.