Congress Kills Ergonomic Rules
J. Quinn Brisben
at the ultrasound right arm
braced to ease pain's repeats
left hand cues glowing screen
under re-revised rules
no one's boss responsible
always and everywhere work
kills hoop-bent harvesters
black brown and mineral-fibered
lungers sleepless drivers
gilders of cathedrals us
led on by a smiling face
in old cigarette ads
much-married asbestos heirs
greenhouse gassers oil leaches
burying us in piles of shit
aches in knuckles recall kegs
rolled to cold rooms from hot trucks
new bottles exploding in hands
knees wrenched on uncleaned floors
rage turned inward gun-eating cops
hardened hearts worst of all
decreeing bricks without straw
refusing to let the people go
ignoring the long series of plagues
finally drowning without heirs
