JURY DUTY

 

Two grey pigeons fight

outside the courthouse

while a white one watches

 

A skyrat strangles another

right off the window ledge

and the onlooker stays cornered

 

But beak dives rewind:

both birds reappear

with glimmering fat throats

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//

 

I haven’t made eye contact with anyone

 

Sometimes I get sick

from not knowing

 

Every two hours a man

says just a few more minutes

​

so I empty myself

again in the sink

​

//

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Jury service is both an obligation and a privilege.

Your fellow citizens need your assistance.

​

Most individuals who have served on a jury

find it to be an informative and rewarding experience.

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//

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The plaintiff looks like a scumbag

which is to say he is a white man

in a pressed suit which

is what the lawyers look like

and also the judge

 

In an Apple store, Sean Spicer

tells a rowdy brown woman

such a great country

that allows you

to be here

 

The punishment

for not appearing

in court is a $1,000 fine

and up to three days in jail

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//

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Last night my love

ironed my shirt, drove me

around the block, showed me

a parking garage so the marbled maze

would be familiar

which helped

 

I can’t remember the last time

anything helped

 

Bird metaphors don’t help

I just have little else in me

for anyone that can afford a lawyer

or a suit

 

Stunted wobbling

snow fowl stuck

watching men fuck with each other

while I play dress up

in citizen clothes