BY Dee Allen
Fed on the fear
Fear of the future
Future of the planet
Planet in slow motion
Slow motion doomsday
Consisting of minute doomsdays here & there
Has us running
Running in panic for home
Slam the front door shut
Pray they never reach your doorstep
While they're selling us the end
Worldwide shopkeepers
Open up their shops with a smile
Expectation of a consumer rush
On par with “Black Friday”
Present themselves as our saviours
Motivate sales
By saying our time's run out
Get what you can
While supplies last
Hoard what you can
Try to buy your way
Out of collective trauma
Your shock drives the economy
Your panic keeps the big shops in business
And all the while, all the while
From what I observed
The planet still warms
Doomsday still comes charging
Though we disagree
On some matters
Naomi Klein
Was right—
*German for “Shut door panic”
Dee Allen is an African-Italian performance poet based in Oakland, California. Active on creative writing & Spoken Word since the early 1990s. Author of 8 books--Boneyard, Unwritten Law, Stormwater, Skeletal Black [ all from POOR Press ], Elohi Unitsi [ Conviction 2 Change Publishing ], Rusty Gallows: Passages Against Hate [ Vagabond Books ], Plans [ originally Nomadic Press, now re-issued from Black Lawrence Press ] and coming in February 2024, Crimson Stain [ EYEPUBLISHEWE ]--and 72 anthology appearances under his figurative belt so far.