Waiting for Change in the Arc of the Moral Universe
With a nod to Martin Luther King, Jr.
I wonder where
My wonder went.
The frisson of relish
I used to wear, my wardrobe
Now wistful and withered,
Without — the wooly warmth
Of come-on-in, wanderer!
Now wadded and rubbed
Wispy wrecks to recall.
What’s this, new world?
Aware I’m all wrong. Or
Wrongfully right. Wannabe
Windows: the view’s been
Withdrawn. Be done now
With weeping and playing
With words. Such whitewash.
Such wastage. The wishbone
Of wealth. A wasteland, but
Wait, maybe here’s
Where we waive
Our woebegone waver.
Refuse now to waffle.
The wind knows its walla,
Stay awake for the win
That’s winging our way.
We’re weighted toward whoop,
That one-for-all wallop.
When warp and woof work,
Our world will un-wrench.
With freedom, full fairness
We’ll wrangle our WOW!
This poem is Maryanne Hannan’s fifth to be published in Slant. She is the author of Rocking Like It’s All Intermezzo: 21st Century Psalm Responsorials (Resource Publications, 2019) and has published poems widely in other journals, including Rattle, Gargoyle, and Cider Press Review. Several of her poems have also been included in anthologies, most recently The Best of Kindness (Origami Poems Project, 2017). A retired Latin teacher, she lives in upstate New York. You can read more about her at Maryanne Hannan (mhannan.com).
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