Days Four and Five: "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" and "What You Need"

The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street

and it’s no surprise
they’re us: we all know now
how very capable we are
of producing devastation.
What more is there
to say? We rev the engines
of our automobiles as if
the chorus of ignitions
can drown the dark sounds
that pour from our windows
and alleyways. We brew
fine coffee and craft beer
and we are so very clever
and for what? This great
game of exploitation
and ignorance and death?
If the aliens really are
scheming, what need
could they have to tap
into our easy paranoia?
Just wait a few more years.


~

What You Need

The old bent man hoists
his box of trinkets: inside,
just the thing you need.

But surely there are some needs
no thing can ever answer?