Syd and Nancy
Let’s go shopping
for the pieces
of the world:
for the sake of those
whose lives have been shattered by war,
whose dreams and hopes
have been buried
by mudslides or
swept away by tidal waves.
We are spending against
earthquakes and hurricanes.
We are spending against
despair.
We have to keep ourselves
laughing,
always laughing,
always spending,
because fear steps in
when laughter stops
and dollars can no longer
buy comic relief
in the clothes abandoned
by others.
The world is
an artless nightmare
that shatters the safety of
our thriftshop wombs
and shifts the tides of
our amniotic attire.
We laugh because
we are frightened.
Why are you laughing at us?
Maybe you’re just as scared.