.........The only thing we have to fear is fear itself….........FDR
But here and now
The only thing we have
Is fear. It grows like mushrooms
In the dark, like dandelions
In the sun, like erections
Unbidden, straining at your zipper
It metastasizes
Like fomites in a plane
Above the sneezing cabinmate
Who, despite his buttoned-down
Suit might be hiding
An incendiary in his shoe
It cannot be wiped clean
By emptying our pockets
In Security, or by testing
My laptop for nitro
Or confiscating all our hairgel
Or lens cleaner.
And it is purveyed by
Simpletons and charlatans
By moral imbeciles
And crypto-fascists
Who exploit it as a cudgel
Our yoke and chain
Accusing us of naïveté
If we dare to question
Its source,
Or collusion
If we fail to fear
……………..CJ_Langer@fccc.edu
Princeton Jcn, NJ 08550 w/p – 9/24/06