Jury Duty

By Thomas Luhrmann

Clumps of tall purplish grass are being “harvested”
for want of a better word

the floodlights of the miniature golf course
are the primary source of light pollution here

while the thunder of monkeys scampering over this vast tin roof
echoes throughout the cavernous gloom

Let’s shoot flaming arrows in the general direction of the pond
in whose mirror–like surface the moon does not appear

Let’s update the aircraft painted on the runways
before they are obliterated the way that music turns to dust

For the ice people graze content beneath the myrtle,
the bench people graze content beneath the stars

and the Ficus tree that partially illuminates the vending machine
offers limited immunity from this purifying wind