Cumulative Decay of Heartbeats, Control Rods, and Cure Songs

by Henry Cherry

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1985 wore ankle bells and 

Sparkling left-handed gloves, 

Was filled with new drivers. 

The full pregnant impact of

Nuclear destruction.

I became a lotus flower

But never had seen one.
Drank beers and passed out

In a car going the wrong 

Way on Route No. I can’t remember

The damage of gullibility 

Perspired in overheated lies

That flooded separation

Anxiety, that wore ties and sandals,
Oxford button downs.

I sang the birdsong blueness

Smudging the late summer

East Coast skies, while the blades 

Of grass sucked into mower bags 

Became the aura of infinity.