Tuesday poem #548 : Jerome Sala : Leon Trotsky

 

 

said all revolutions arise from splinter groups.
But who owns the wood?
The wood is owned by no one
but it doesn’t know that.
It thinks it is owned by Joseph Stalin
or the contemporary equivalents
of whom there are many.
Floors creak with repression.
In fact, walking represses the floor
because boots grow authoritarian.
Forests start themselves aflame
to escape building such buildings.
There are more forest fires today than ever.

 

                               

 

 

Jerome Sala’s latest book is How Much? New and Selected Poems (NYQ Books).  Other books include cult classics such as Corporations Are People, Too! (NYQ Books), The Cheapskates (Lunar Chandelier), and Look Slimmer Instantly (Soft Skull). Widely published, his work appears in Pathetic Literature (Grove Atlantic) and two editions of Best American Poetry (Scribners). His blog, on poetry, pop culture and everyday life, is espresso bongo (https://espressobongo.typepad.com/).

the Tuesday poem is curated by rob mclennan