D. Dina Friedman received two Pushcart Prize nominations and has published in many literary journals. She is the author of one chapbook of poetry, Wolf in the Suitcase (Finishing Line Press) and two award-winning novels, Escaping Into the Night (Simon and Schuster) and Playing Dad’s Song (Farrar, Straus, Giroux). http://www.ddinafriedman.com.
If A
is still for
Apple
and all
we know
as true
and dear,
B
must be
for Bearable
no longer
and D
for Disorder
Driven
by Conditions
of Collapse
E
for Euphemism;
F
Fuck it all.
G
Go
Hide
In…
An apple?
Yes. Go
hide in an apple
before the fall
from P
Paradise, Plague,
Pontificating Politicians;
Poisonous Palaver
Q for Quit.
And the letters skipped:
Killer, and too much time
in Kitchens. Love Lost.
Millions Missed. Not Normal.
Nasty. Never-Ending. OMG.
Rioters Rallying
against Reasonable
Regulations.
Smarmy Sorrow. Touch Taken
Unhinged. Vortex,
Vector, Ventilator, Victim.
Wrong, Wrong, Wrong. X.
Y is for Yesterday
(Oh, I believed…)
And Z for the zzz’s
that zip from my grasp
zapping my zealous resolve
to salute each day
like a dazzling red apple.