This is essentially an American question
Especially in the South
Where most of the nation’s sins lie buried.

What does it mean to fill up with hate –
Through Fox fascist “cable pleasure”?

And when did nihilism become an American color
Rubbed on elbows and knees –
But mostly reserved for our most scary bodily tattoos?

When did leaders of American spiritual life and politics
Become media stars – and nothing else?

Don’t we need, once again, to respect character, integrity, humanness –
Even though all have apparently evaporated.

Minutes are getting louder by the day –
By the hour –
Striking like bell towers falling.

Families separate and come apart
In an invisible American emergency –
Turning unrecognized losses
Like love, once alive,
Into a culture that no longer exists.

Bursting bubbles –
Modern romance in the 2020’s.