Rumors of my execution are greatly exaggerated.
I am here, with precision, present and accounted for
in the roll call vote of thousands, in my assigned
place as instructed by the distributed charts entitled:
Workers Party Congress Seating Assignments.
You may find me, very much alive, in the section
identified by my “Once Deemed Corrupt Factionalist
Misusers Of Authority Once Vanished, Now Revenant”
placard (As translated by our newest English speaking
western capitalist pig prisoner now sentenced
to hard labor and administrative office duties
as assigned by the state, but recently comatose).
I will be wearing stylish western sunglasses
similar to several fellow comrades and will offer
little in the manner of comment. I ask that you refrain
from asking anything of me, or of my handlers
who I have formed a great bond with during my recent
my holiday trip, whom I now sit and walk arm-in-arm
at all times, clasping hands, sharing happy wide smiles,
expressing undeniable national workers pride
and workers love of our Supreme Honorable Chairman
of the Workers Party. We are anxious to participate
in this afternoon’s Annual Post-Congress Parades
where everyone hopes for a blessed Chairman’s glance.
With my newly acquired ability to indefinitely stand
at attention and, with help, march the goosestep
with perfectly straight legs, I’m optimistic that my
performance, topped with an expertly executed
salute, will assure another safe year for my family.
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Larry D. Thacker’s poetry can be found or is forthcoming in more than ninety publications including The Still Journal, Poetry South, Tower Poetry Society, Mad River Review, Spillway, The Southern Poetry Anthology, Mojave River Review, Mannequin Haus, Ghost City Press, Jazz Cigarette, and Appalachian Heritage. His books include Mountain Mysteries: The Mystic Traditions of Appalachia and the poetry books, Voice Hunting and Memory Train, as well as the forthcoming, Drifting in Awe. He’s presently working on his MFA in both poetry and fiction.
Editorial art by Elle Aviv Newton.
