2009: Year of the Gilded Flicker

   by Paula Ashley

The flicker hangs on the hummingbird feeder,
gilded head, striped gentleman’s coat,
sipping from another’s trough
& isn’t that what it has all been about?

The fat cats slip off to Antibes
while markets crash,
medical bills mount
& hostile words simmer 

in the blogs, in the paper, in the air.
Sip your latte,
home brewed now.
Shop reused, recycled, renewed.

Try to remember the life your grandfather led
those days called the Great Depression:
the silence of the factories,
long lines at the food banks

& night stars vivid without the glare of city lights.
Lets hang upside down 
from the trough of just-enough
with gilded heads graying & last year’s clothes.