Turn off the television, the computer, the phone

and anything else that might scream obscenities

at you as you take away their power.


Take the newspapers piled at your feet

and crumple them up.


The article about the little girl whose

body was found in a trash bag

on the side of the road,

the little girl who likes My Little Pony

and reminds you of your niece.


The article about the shooting at

a local synagogue which left one

woman dead and several injured,

and you wondered if it was the same

synagogue your son went to for his

friend’s bar mitzvah.


The article about the government lawyer

who said it was safe and sanitary

to make immigrant children sleep on

concrete floors and not allow them soap

or toothbrushes, this after several children

have died in custody.

The article that made you think about

the degradation of humanity and the

the histories that keep repeating.


The article about a writer accusing the

president of sexual assault and you remembered

what he said about grabbing pussy.

The article that made you think

of all the woman who have suffered

at the hands of men just like him who

think women are just pussies to be grabbed.


The articles about rising health costs and

declining health and widening wealth gap

and increased homelessness and the

destruction of our planet and the animals

on the verge of extinction and the threat of war.


Take it all and make a bonfire.

Let the smoke fill your throat

until you choke on all your questions.

Let the smoke fill your eyes

until you can longer see the darkness.


Spin around the bonfire faster and faster

until you fall over.

Let your mind spin and spin

and spin away—

far above the fire

of this burning world.


Bio: Lisa Lerma Weber is a writer living in San Diego. She continues to hope for the best. Her work has appeared in Black Bough Poetry, Bonnie’s Crew, Marias at Sampaguitas, Mookychick, Royal Rose, The Blue Pages Journal, Vamp Cat, and others. Follow her on Twitter @LisaLermaWeber

Image: Joshua Newton