Artwork © S.A. Griffin

Ode to the Supreme Court

We have been annulled,
voided,
blank checked by the sequin seas
braided,
our brains astrayed

We have been tortured
by fake news bloodclaims
and clasped hands more than God
would ask,
jaded… yes, we have been jaded…

We have been carved out
by the forgery of forgetfulness,
and Lady Liberty has asked us why
we sit upon the dust-shelves of history
accumulating vultures
in starry-eyed companions, naysayers
of forever folly.

We have let go of ourselves into the
nocturnal diaspora chimney smoke
dewdrops bleed red-white-&-blue

I have known cobwebs who cackle
into the limelight, beckoning the
forefright to rejoinder our twin twilight

I have known forgiveness to be a fiend
in these times of trigger-warning denied
orisons of quietude in the white-noise
blinding death, that worship of war.

Joshua Corwin, a Los Angeles native, is a neurodiverse, Pushcart Prize-nominated poet and Spillwords Press Publication of the Month winner. His debut poetry collection Becoming Vulnerable (2020) details his experience with autism, addiction, sobriety and spirituality. He has lectured at UCLA, performed at the 2020 National Beat Poetry Festival, and his Beat poetry is to be anthologized alongside Ferlinghetti, Hirschman, Ford, Coleman and weiss late this year (Sparring Omnibus, Mystic Boxing Commission). He hosts the poetry podcast “Assiduous Dust” and teaches poetry to neurodiverse individuals and autistic addicts in recovery at The Miracle Project, an autism nonprofit. Corwin’s collaborative collection A Double Meaning, with David Dephy, is currently seeking publication. He also has forthcoming collaborative poetry projects with Ellyn Maybe including Ghosts Sing into the World’s Ear (Ghost Accordion series 1st Wave, Mystic Boxing Commission).

S.A. Griffin lives, loves and works in Los Angeles.