The Paradox of Cleanliness
Walking through the trees in late October
A block, or so, from Marianne Moore’s
Yesterday was drizzly
But the sky’s blue as a damselfly
And clear
The bombs are all too far away
From here to hear
And there beyond the tennis court
The basketball courts, and courts of law
Whose arm is said to be so long
to sprinkle bombs
Across oceans
And likewise arms of justice must
Be short
and quick —
The paradox of cleanliness
