Casualty Notificaton
      The Only N ews I know
      Is Bulletins all Day
      From Immortality.
            —Emily Dickinson

Switch channels, stop
      the breaking news,
press mute to hush
      the anchorman's reviews
of war, his litany
      of each device
and bomb gone off today.
      Silence the price
of bread or medicare
      or gasoline.
Make the black pinpoint
      on the TV screen.
Unplug the blackbox
      from the mouth of the wall.
Uncradle the phone so
      nobody can call.
Let the venetian blinds
      blind everyone
to what's outside—the dead,
      indifferent sun,
the car pulled up along
      the curb, the vexed
men in uniforms
      looking for next
They bring a check
      to pay the cost
of grieving. Their dark sedan
      puffs out exhaust.
And now, the only sound
      a daybird singing,
the only bulletin
      a doorbell ringing.

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Copyright © 2015 Jehanne Dubrow All rights reserved
from West Branch
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission