Without Warning
       

The bird cage was gone and the couch
With our parents on it watching TV
Nor did we notice the moving truck,
The driver waving as he drove away.

I like the new look of our lives, you said,
Dangling a beer bottle by the neck
And walking pleased from room to room,
Every one of which was now empty.

Stepping out at last to look for our car,
We found the neighbors' homes trashed,
Their front lawns covered with weeds
A few of which had pretty blue flowers

That seemed greatly pleased to be there,
Like crows over the fresh roadkill.
The interests of certain powerful parties
And their underlings were being met.

Would that include God? I wondered at night
While you lay next to me on the floor,
Dead to the world. Still, you'd expect
Someone of that magnitude to lift a finger.

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Copyright © 2012 Charles Simic All rights reserved
from Harvard Review
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission