
Welcome to the Third World
A friend from one of those Shithole places tells me
she’s worried. Am I sick? Depressed? I’ve lost
my mischievous smile. She’s listened to my laments:
Confederate flags in the Capitol, the moving sidewalks
speeding backward—away from one person, one vote,
women’s control of our bodies, checks
and balancing blahblahblah. When Trump was elected
she told me he was Gaddafi. Now she smiles kindly, Welcome
to the Third World! Tells me to stop counting on Hollywood
endings and promises made in ninth grade Civics.
She and another friend once laughed and snapped
my photo: making pancakes for them on a Sunday morning
in the kitchen of my wooden house. Like in American films.
Tells me hope is there, just not where I’m trained to look.
Issue: Winter 2024 / Volume 100/4
Published: February 19, 2025