Tim Yu
Flight Risk

The empire is striking back against
Its soft-shelled students, marking passing
Time with new ways to send money.  The ticker-tape
Crawls at denial’s speed, its several
Layers and colors turning our heads
In all directions.  What’s newer about
This time around is endurance, the way it
Keeps moving despite all efforts to direct
It this way or that, as if the serenade
Were going on in a distant room.
Our generosity is relentless.  Around
The capital cities traffic is backed up
At every access ramp, each driver
Quietly gripping the steering wheel
And waiting for the tow trucks to arrive.

Through a patient accumulation of successes
A new building is being demolished.
“One cannot say that circumstance
Is necessarily permanent in that country.”
Credible sources are complimenting us
On our limited range of options, shifting
From place to place on the boardroom table.
What’s different is the risk of turbulence
In a previously controlled ascent; links
To various scenarios are included
In the malady’s front-page treatment.

We could be jailed for selling this
To the public at large, whose undivided
Arousal is required by the off-white banners
That snap like laundry in the wind,
Wrapping themselves around the few
Remaining pockets of resistance.
What’s left is a feeling moving unnoticed
Up the small hairs of the arm, marking
Time as it rises like a gauge.

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