Perfect Pitch

“Hearing” by Jake Nordstrom

it’s all in the ear

the unconscious

eidetic discernment

of decency’s sounds

perfect packets

of audible memory

set-pieces pitched

as esthetic ideals

within deep

secret centers

electrically charged

limbic episodes

bearing distinctions

of pure synesthesia

a rarely placed gift

that must suffer

great pain to endure

through a lifetime

cacophonous discord

and dissonant speech

of unflinching

political hacks

who assault the

intelligent senses

of citizens

yearning for

elegant music of

justice and truth

fairly played in a

most human harmony

Cognitive Dissonance

 

“Political Dissonance” by Casey Kotas

 

it’s hard spiritless work

delving deep seeking

some shred of decency

any vestigial virtue

to help one identify

which is the lesser of evils

hard work causing even

the mind of the seeker

to question its own

settled values embittered

embarrassed by conflict

that first tears the brain

then the family the nation

and finally the world