Frederick Pollack
On the Eve
Your neighbors on this border street
hate you but are sane
or canny enough not to shoot up your house,
poison the dog. Also you’re not Black, gay, trans,
just a lib; you don’t remind them you’re also
a Jew. Dealing with you
can wait. “Any plans for the weekend?”
is as far as human contact goes. None to
speak of … They go inside
to study, in a sense – accumulate
the latest conspiracies, rumors, jokes
(which are also knowledge), knowledge
without the drag of thought. You hear
their television on till all hours,
and know what they’re doing this weekend:
the shooting range, fairway, dance class, martial
arts and spa respectively,
church in there somewhere. You’re saving
a reply for when the time is right,
that great old line from Peter Weiss:
“I am a mad animal. I have plans.”
