Howard F. Stein’s most recent poem to appear here was “Leaving Ghost Ranch, NM” (March 2017)

Slash and Burn
By Howard F. Stein

O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon,
Irrecoverably dark, total eclipse
Without all hope of day!
—John Milton (1608-1674)
     Samson Agonistes [1671], Line 80

Nightfall, then midnight,
endless night,
no hope of dawn.
None can see in this
piercing darkness.

New words, new phrases,
impose new reality:
cloudless sky is downpour,
falsehood is truth,
disagreement is betrayal.

Open doors slam shut,
frantic refugees turned away
not far from Lady Liberty’s beckon;
the new president promises new walls
to shut out more escaping aliens.

Whispers—dubious election,
more like a coup.
I choke on my words;
nothing can come out
except voiceless dread.

Night engulfs all light;
nothing escapes its maw.
Fear victorious,
death triumphant,
Furies rule the night.