KJ Hannah Greenberg’s most recent poem to appear here was The Fullness of Aging: Autumn’s Showy Bounty, published as part of Contributor Series 10: Silken Rags, in December 2011.

Jukebox Jury
By KJ Hannah Greenberg

Greens and other bitters spring as grandiose farmers, ever kerning
Rows, fields, acreage, compensate for little, gnostic pollen explosions.

Such copal-sourced, childish harmonies evolve into mature laments, lentils, forbs,
In turn, highlighting moneyed beliefs about agricultural, family life, fertility.

Whereas soil types remain inscrutable to most white or pink collars,
Compared to pills, knives, profits, mineral constituents might as well sing lullabies.

Likewise, alternative schools, demands for water births, paternity leve,
Other politically correct humanistic rot, gets dung heaped when stocks are involved.

Corporate America’s insouciance, the entire culture’s participation in self-mutilation
Exiles sippers of natural teas, of white powders, sends ethological studies to leaky culverts.

Little understanding will ever get expected from managers, who would as soon
Bounce organic pears on their private courts, as would eat manufactured meat or foie gras.

The next revolution will be soldiered by robots, housewives bribed by surgery,
Maybe even call girls with doctorates in nutrition, sports medicine, also geriatrics.

In plain sight, society’s jukebox jury ruled repeatedly, made turntable ready,
The notion that marketplace jingoism surpasses all other needs.