About a Span

The year of our Lord
Of the Flies. The year of Waiting
For Godot. That time when Ike
(Turner not Dwight)
Launched his Rocket
Eighty-Eight, ushering in
Seven decades of deca-
Dance. Stalin dies. From
Coronation to Corona-nation,
What has become of this
World since The Day
The Earth Stood Still
To when it self-isolated
In this season? I know
Nothing much. More than
The end of rationing or
Rationality, have we seen
A soft fade into chaos,
Clock hands oozing like crude
Oil from dry ground? Or
Maybe we are just
A torrent of ones and zeros,
Percentages trumping reason, silent
Tongues tremulous, our hearts
Gasping at emptiness.